Hello PG community,
I used to avoid activation of “Find My” on my iPhone for a long time because I always thought enabled “Location services” and “Share My Location” were a must. This was also my understaning when I read PG KB article about iOS:
“Your location data is not E2EE when your device is online and you use Find My iPhone remotely to locate your device. You will have to make the decision whether these trade-offs are worth the anti-theft benefits of Activation Lock.”
I then read several other articles & tested on my device and found out that “Find My” offers many features even when “Location services” are disabled, among others:
- Activation lock - it is enabled when “Find my” is enabled (even without Location services)
- Play a sound on a device
- Use Lost Mode
- Erase a device
Besides, enabled “Find My” is a prerequisite for the Stolen device protection.
Yes, I cannot locate my device when it is lost, but I can still use the above features to protect my data and made re-using of my device more difficult. All that without any privacy trade-offs associated with the location sharing or enabled location services mentioned in the KB article.
Or is my understanding of the KB artcile incorrect?