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User profile for user: amypond
amypond Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Macbook stolen after I erased it - is data safe?

Hi all,


My old MacBook Pro was stolen on its way to an eBay buyer. I had erased it and re-installed Mac OS X using the normal process (https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/reset-mac) but am now worried that my data might still be recoverable and visible to the thieves in some way - I understand that there are different "levels" of erasing?


I have also now turned on remote erase and notify through Find My Mac.


Any advice would be very welcome - is my data safely erased?

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 13, 2019 8:21 AM

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
132,763 points

Posted on May 13, 2019 6:37 PM

As to your initial query: Is my data at risk?


If you erase an SSD drive, you data are gone. There is no software solution that can bring it back. your data blocks were TRIMmed and queued for erasure, which would happen within a few minutes. If you then re-installed MacOS after erasing, you wrote over 350,000 files and re-wrote about 20GB of data.


Only spy agencies have the resources needed to reconstruct a very small portion of your data. They would need to have good reasons to spend a few months to reconstruct a portion of it.


You are perfectly safe.

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
132,763 points

May 13, 2019 6:37 PM in response to amypond

As to your initial query: Is my data at risk?


If you erase an SSD drive, you data are gone. There is no software solution that can bring it back. your data blocks were TRIMmed and queued for erasure, which would happen within a few minutes. If you then re-installed MacOS after erasing, you wrote over 350,000 files and re-wrote about 20GB of data.


Only spy agencies have the resources needed to reconstruct a very small portion of your data. They would need to have good reasons to spend a few months to reconstruct a portion of it.


You are perfectly safe.

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User profile for user: babowa
babowa
User level: Level 9
78,405 points

May 13, 2019 3:05 PM in response to amypond

Unfortunately, you followed incomplete instructions since you did not disassociate it from your Apple ID and you were still able to enable find my mac. what that means is that the thief can’t use it, and it also means that your intended buyer would have needed your Apple ID and password to update apps or reinstall.


For future reference please make sure to review BobtheFisherman’s link to the complete instructions which include disassociating the device from your Apple ID.

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User profile for user: amypond
amypond Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 15, 2019 11:11 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Ok. This doesn’t pose a risk to me or my data though, does it? I’d be really grateful if you could confirm on that point.


I’m not sure how it would still be associated if I wiped it and reinstalled OS X and the first screen is the same one I saw when I first took it out of the box?


Also it has been offline for several days and I’ve enabled notify and remote erase - find it unlikely that if it’s still associated, it’s not being used?

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Macbook stolen after I erased it - is data safe?

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