iPhone Activation Lock

This is an alert to all businesses that use iPhones for their employees’ work phones. Your phones may become useless once an employee leaves unless you discover the following information.

Apple came out with a very handy app called “Find My iPhone”, which allows people to identify where their iPhones are if it became lost or misplaced. You can also use a friend’s iPhone or computer that has the app installed on it to find that same cell phone.

However, after iOS 7, it’s been discovered that this app has the potential to render an iPhone useless once an employee leaves the company and here is the reason why.

Apple sets up an Apple ID and password when first setting up an iPhone, and the password is needed before downloading anything. Most people will use their own login that they have created in the past, and this is where the problem lies.

When people have the “Find My Phone” app installed, the Apple ID and password get hard coded with the iPhone it is installed on. After a person leaves and they return their iPhone to you, the Apple ID and password are needed before the iPhone will allow you access to it. You are able to do a factory reset from iTunes on the phone and it will erase all settings from the phone except for the Apple ID and password. You can then reset the Apple ID and password, but you must have access to the email account used when initially setting up the phone.

While using the “Find My iPhone” app, I have run into this issue a lot but was fortunate enough to have been able to obtain the account info needed to be able to log into Apple and regain control of the phone.

It is in your company’s best interest to make credential revelations as part of your exit strategy when employees leave your company and they are using equipment supplied by you. This will save you the substantial costs of having to purchase new iPhones simply because you are unable to unlock them.

Learn more about how our IT department can serve you by calling 1-866-320-8922 or email us at [email protected] and we’d be happy to help!