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"Remote Wipe" (home edition)

eclipse525

eclipse525

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 5, 2003
854
4
USA, New York
I thought the SDK announcement was the beginning of a great platform(sub) and am very excited about it. When they announced the whole part about "enterprise", I knew that it was a huge step for Apple to get deeper penetration in the business market. I have never needed push email but understand it's importance. I was however curious about the "remote wipe" feature that comes along with using ActiveSync. My question to any of the more intelligent people on this forum is about "remote wipe". I know we can sync the iPhone to all our Calendars, Address Book, Music, Etc., BUT in the event that the iPhone is lost or stolen, can you implement a "remote wipe" from your home computer? Is there an application or a way to accomplish your own personal "remote wipe"? I'm pretty sure that it doesn't exist but wouldn't be great to have that type of control from home? I would like hear everyone's thoughts on this and perhaps mention something I missed.

~e
 
I honestly dont see the need for it. I dont have anything on my phone that is THAT important that i would NEED a remote wipe for my personal iphone. although if they could implement it fairly easily i could see how some people might like it. i could see hoe some people might have info in emails that they would rather not get into the hands of strangers, or certain pictures they may not want a stranger to have access to. but other than that what could you have that would warrant a remote wipe? possibly screennames/passwords to perhaps a bank account or such, but i dont think one should have that completely automated. you should still have it set to where you would have to enter a password at the very least. so i could see how one might WANT that feature just so they could wipe it in the case that it is stolen. but i honestly dont think that the majority of people using it for personal use have the NEED for it. so i dont think this will be implemented. plus they would then have to add on another feature that they would have to troubleshoot. would they really want to deal with this if they didnt have to?
 
kashmoney2006 said:
I honestly dont see the need for it. I dont have anything on my phone that is THAT important that i would NEED a remote wipe for my personal iphone. although if they could implement it fairly easily i could see how some people might like it. i could see hoe some people might have info in emails that they would rather not get into the hands of strangers, or certain pictures they may not want a stranger to have access to. but other than that what could you have that would warrant a remote wipe? possibly screennames/passwords to perhaps a bank account or such, but i dont think one should have that completely automated. you should still have it set to where you would have to enter a password at the very least. so i could see how one might WANT that feature just so they could wipe it in the case that it is stolen. but i honestly dont think that the majority of people using it for personal use have the NEED for it. so i dont think this will be implemented. plus they would then have to add on another feature that they would have to troubleshoot. would they really want to deal with this if they didnt have to?
Click to expand...

I think those are all the reasons people would want it.
 
kashmoney2006 said:
I honestly dont see the need for it.
Click to expand...

Let me get this straight. So what you're saying is that the average persons personal information isn't as valuable as their work information? As the "Benjamindaines" highlighted, you've pretty much given the reason why a person would want to protect their personal information.

~e
 
yes those are some reaons why someone would want it. but from apples point of view are a few pictures somebody doesnt want to get out, enough to have them go through the trouble of implementing such a feature? they probably think that people are smart enough to keep their personal info such as bank passwords, credit card info, etc. off of their phone. whereas a person othen times has to keep their work info on a mobile device so they have it to be able to accessed at all times. they want their employees to have this accessabiltiy. this remote wipe would be critical to enterprise integration, wereas it isnt so for the ordinary consumer. yes it would be nice to have. but i dont think apple would want to put the time in for it, if it isnt necessary. im not saying personal info isnt as important (I might even say its more important), im just saying it is much easier to keep your private personal info out of your phone, thus not warranting a remote wipe feature, whereas this not so with a work phone. especially since this is the sole reason a company would issue the phone out to their employees.
 
I have all my clients computer passwords, router settings etc on my pda which is password protected with a 10 digit password. I would certainly be interested in "remote wipe" when I get my iPhone.

I have my ssn, my daughters ssn, my wifes ssn, on the same pda. My 4 year old daughter is a special needs child so medicaid covers her but I can't remember all the numbers they want at the hospital. Yes, once it is at the hospital it is fine but when we go out of town and she needs medical attention which has happened 4-5 times in her young 4 years of life, we have needed that info for a doctor or hospital who has not seen her before.

The iPhone is much more than just a phone and with a 3rd party app already out there to let one use the 16GB on the iPhone as a backup device, I think a remote wipe would be in order for more than just a few users.

For many people, their privacy is no big deal, but there are a lot of folks who have sensitive information on pdas (BBs or Treos) that probably really like the idea of a remote wipe capability. Just my 2 cents :p
 
Or look at it another way. Surely Apple and all their employees would want this option, and all the other ActiveSync services.

Or was the SDK event Apple admitting they use Microsoft Exchange to run their company info network??? :eek:

Surely there are large organisations out there using an entirely Apple set up?

Maybe I'm wrong.
 
If u wiped your phone does it make it unusable forever?

Or could restore it from a backup?

I def think its an awesome feature :)
 
With the correct software installed would it not be a trivial matter for AT&T/O2 (or whoever) to initiate a remote wipe once the registered user declares the iphone lost/stolen to the network.
 
senorFunkyPants said:
With the correct software installed would it not be a trivial matter for AT&T/O2 (or whoever) to initiate a remote wipe once the registered user declares the iphone lost/stolen to the network.
Click to expand...

Actually that's an interesting idea. If your iPhone is ever Lost or Stolen you can call in(which would be ironic) or go to some sort of support page on AT&T's website and have your account set to "remote wipe" the entire iPhone's content the next time the phone is activated/turned on.

As far as getting that content back on your recovered or new iPhone, I don't see an issue as you should be syncing your iPhone to your Mac.


~e
 
Remote wipe, while a nice idea, is easy to defeat.
Steal the phone and immediately power it off. Then power up the phone with a different SIM in it and grab all the data you want.
The SIM is what identifies the hardware and user and registers it on the network. Replacing the SIM prior to powering it on will make the feature useless.
The people who are after your data are already going to know how to get around it.
The amateur thief is only after the hardware, so the phones contents is irrelevant as they will wipe it and restore it prior to keeping it or selling it to someone else.
 
rjohnstone said:
Remote wipe, while a nice idea, is easy to defeat.
Steal the phone and immediately power it off. Then power up the phone with a different SIM in it and grab all the data you want.
The SIM is what identifies the hardware and user and registers it on the network. Replacing the SIM prior to powering it on will make the feature useless.
The people who are after your data are already going to know how to get around it.
The amateur thief is only after the hardware, so the phones contents is irrelevant as they will wipe it and restore it prior to keeping it or selling it to someone else.
Click to expand...

Excellent point! I do have to say, although it's not a ideal solution, the odds are in your favor that you're phone won't be stolen or found by a professional who knows how to migrate your data via SIM card. It could be a great solution for the majority of situations but I'm sure there is that possibility of it being totally useless is there albeit small.
 
i think it´s one of the biggest disadvantages of the iphone that you can still access all the information on it even if you have your sim disabled so it would be really nice to have some way to protect it ...
some nights when i go out i use the passcode set to activate after like 10 min. but still... i just don´t feel comfortable because nowadays you just store everything in your contacts and i just don´t want any criminals to have name, last name physical address, email, and a picture all together of my friends and family but not entering these iformation in the adress book would be stupid as well
if someone really goes to the trouble to steal the data then i guess it´s just bad luck but it would be really nice if it was more difficult than it is now
 
OK so develop a fingerprint scanner for the touch screen...if your fingerprint doesn't match the one on file then access is denied unless you know the master password...three wrong tries for the password and the user data is wiped.
 
Right on funkypants - great idea. You get the remote wipe functionality and yet there is "pre" protection if you will before that happens. :p
 
This could be useful for theft recovery as well as thwarting thieves. Just say its stolen and it will take pics of its location as well as create a map log for you to get it back (with the cops helping)
 
Not only would I like to have a remote wipe, but I would also like to have a remote lock if stolen. Having had a cell phone stolen I can easily see how this would come in handy. Apple implementing my wishes is another story.
 
for enterprise or home use does the remote wipe just make the phone unusable until you bring it to apple they say its stolen/lost etc or if you find your phone/is returned can u restore it or is it dead?
 
puckhead193 said:
for enterprise or home use does the remote wipe just make the phone unusable until you bring it to apple they say its stolen/lost etc or if you find your phone/is returned can u restore it or is it dead?
Click to expand...

From what I understand it only wipes email account info and messages.
It may wipe contacts as well, but Apple hasn't released the details yet.
 
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