Securing my music and memories

You are in charge of your own backups. Nothing is recoverable from a device that is no longer operational, it is the backup where your data that was stored on the device that is recoverable.

For your Apple Account, it is your Password and Two Factor Authentication that proves ownership. You add any other Trusted Number you want to use for verification of your account. If your phone crashed, typically the number remains the same on a new device, so you will still receive that verification code. If you don't know your own Password and have no access to a Trusted Phone Number that was previously entered on your account, then the only option you have is Account Recovery where it is a possibility that your account cannot be verified.

If appears that you are addressing Apple here, but this is a Community Support site of users where Apple does not participate at all in providing any kind of support. No, they will not read your post or respond to it.

You are seeing the downside of the increased security people have been requiring the technology companies implement. It prevents thieves from taking your information and account but it also prevents you from getting access if you do not keep a record of things such as passwords and trusted devices.

You are fortunate that Apple does let you re-download music when you have account access but ultimately you are responsible for ensuring you keep records for guaranteeing that access. It's a bit like having a house door with a high security lock. Yes, it keeps thieves out, but if you do not keep a space copy of your key then if you lose your only copy you too are prevented from getting in.

If you find you can’t sign in, reset your password, or receive verification codes, you can request account recovery (get Apple’s own instructions in this article: If you forgot your password and can’t sign in to your Apple Account - Apple Support ) to regain access to your account. Account recovery might take a few days or longer, depending on the specific account information you can provide to verify your identity. One tip to using account recovery is to look for options in small blue letters beneath the normal log-in items if you cannot complete the requested information.

Also read this article about what to expect during account recovery —> What to expect during account recovery - Apple Support

Supportfreedom wrote:

how do I change an iCloud account from 1992?

look at the date

*** years ago before you were born

I don't recall any of the people who replied to this thread – Mac Jim ID, Limnos, or myself – disclosing our ages or dates of birth. You thus have no way of knowing whether your assertion about "years ago before you were born" is correct or incorrect.

And whether your guesses about someone else's age are correct or incorrect, that has no bearing on the problem at hand. There are way too many scams in the world for you to be able to call up Apple and say "I have no proof of who I am, but I want control of such-and-such Apple Account", and have them deliver control of that account on a silver platter. if they did that, security would vanish, and their phones would be ringing off the hook with calls from scammers all over the world who were eager to take advantage of such a naive target.

Just to add - it is always a good idea to keep local backups of iTunes Store purchases.

You can often re-download purchased music, movies, and TV shows – but record labels have been known to pull music from Apple's catalog from time to time. When that happens, you still have the right to play music that you bought, but you no longer have the ability to re-download it from Apple's servers. You are entirely dependent on local backups.

Note that the iTunes Store still exists. Now that Macs use the Music application, the iTunes Store is not as "front and center" on a Mac as it was back in the iTunes application days – but it is there. (It may be hidden by default, leading to the impression that it is gone, until you discover where to look to "turn it back on".)

Buy music from the iTunes Store on your Mac - Apple Support

Buy music from the iTunes Store on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Supportfreedom wrote:

The account is 34 years old, it was different, really different and there was no choice. Check dates, it’s a long time ago

So. It was 11 years ago that Two Factor Authentication was introduced and recommended by Apple that users turn that on for those older accounts where it was not available previously. Without using 2FA, you are relying on Security Questions for verification and they have long ago been deprecated due to the ease of compromise through Social Engineering. Many services today on your iPhone will not even be available to you when using an older account where you have not turned on 2FA.

As for age, I had cases full of 5.25" floppies that contained my backups when using the Apple II+. Your data was much more volatile back then and even the floppies failed regularly, so you had multiple copies of those backups. I was even loading programs from a cassette tape to an Apple II computer. Those were the days.

There is no excuse for:

• Not turning on 2FA to protect your account.
• Not backing up to protect your data.

I am aware that there are even some users here who do not use 2FA and that is their choice. They assume the risk of losing their account and would expect that they have taken additional precautions with that risk as well.

The main problems with Apple's implementation of Two Factor is it requires you either have additional sign-in Apple equipment with you or a working phone number. For those of us who regularly travel in other countries and don't want to (or cannot) buy phone service, or cannot use (poor cellular service in remote areas) in those locations, Apple's two factor implementation is parochial. In fact since I only make 5 phone calls on my cell phone per year, and I usually have cellular data disabled, I have even considered dropping phone service on it. Then if I needed two factor and was out of state Apple would be sending two factor codes to my home landline. Nobody would likely be home to email me the verification code in a timely manner.

As you said, the main problem is social engineering and there too Apple's implementation of security questions was not well executed. Apple asked set questions that were not culturally flexible and they didn't let you set your own. They asked you questions that for many of them all it took was a web search to find the answers.

Limnos wrote:

As you said, the main problem is social engineering and there too Apple's implementation of security questions was not well executed. Apple asked set questions that were not culturally flexible and they didn't let you set your own. They asked you questions that for many of them all it took was a web search to find the answers.

There's a workaround for that. When you're asked to provide an answer to a security question like that, just "lie". Make up some answer that is completely unrelated to the question, and memorize that answer – or write it down and save the piece of paper in a physically secure place.

After all, the computer will just be checking to see that anyone who answers the question can supply THE answer.

If the question is something like "Where did you go to high school?" and instead of putting in the real answer, you put in "The squeaky wheel gets the grease", that'll throw a nice wrench into the plans of any scammer relying on Web searches.

Supportfreedom,

If you filed a loss claim then consult your insurance company.

When you get locked out by a crash that hold the key!! Right? 20 years ago Jim, iPhones were different right? Do you remember the iPhone 1, the original? How was the iCloud account created? Remember way back then? I used a 386 with windows 3.1 as an app. I worked with marketing between engineering and wrote 510k fda documents and an industrial designer who used a vacuum forming machine to create with an eye, not a monitor and process with quantum servers sent into space by NASA. That Jim, is creatively! Freeform surfacing on a telescope lens headed to mars PERSEVERENCE. CREATE OUTSIDE A COMPUTER AND DREAM LIKE

STEVE JOBBS AND CADAPPLE IN 1986, create a helpful response instead of telling me YOU ARE WRONG JIM

Supportfreedom wrote:

how do I change an iCloud account from 1992?

What do you mean by "change"? My account is several decades old and I have never had to change anything about it. Sure, Apple changed things interfacing with it but those do not require my active participation. Unfortunately too many people learn that too late, after a catastrophic failure in the system.

I too have been using computers for 30+ years and the first thing I learned was to never trust them completely. Always make backups of anything you valued. That's rule #1 of using computers.

Limnos wrote:

Certainly understandable with your use case and don't take my comments as trying to persuade you otherwise, as I am sure you are well aware of the risks and have taken the necessary precautions. You may be using a Recovery Contact or Recovery Key for your account protections and those also have their advantages/disadvantages. The questions to Security Questions are just that, it is the answer that you provide that is important irregardless of what the question is. You just need to know how you answered each question.

I don't need to carry any additional Apple equipment with me and don't even have to enter the 2FA verification code unless setting up a new device or signing into an Apple service with a new device. Beyond those 2 exceptions, I honestly can't remember even having to enter a 2FA code. Banking apps on my phone are much more persistent with a 2FA code where they are required every time, but that has not been the case for me on my Apple Account.

What happens when an ESIM gets tied to your vehicle and you file a loss claim? It is more than a privacy choice, it effected my vehicle, an Apple Watch effects my vehicle, where is that agreement? There are life choices with an eSIM, I want music, not to be effected by someone else’s choice

I called Apple support and I’m out of luck for thousands spent on Apple products and they are useless now because of someone else’s privacy choice? I did not agree to have my vehicle affected by Apple. No. Hmm, I have no choice anymore. Someone else decided the use of my vehicle and music. I want my car back

Oh, I did lie but then I don't have anything to key me in on the answer without checking where I wrote it down. For example, if I could set the question, "What is in the box on the third shelf down on the north wall in the basement?" that is not something I would post on social media, but I do remember it without checking. Yes, yes, a thief in the house could check, but that's pretty far-fetched and they would have to know in advance that they needed to check that (and I could tell they had broken in and change the questions).

Anyway, we're drifting OT but I don't see security questions when properly implemented are insecure. It's only when people post about heir high school reunion on social media and then Apple makes one of the questions like "What was your high-school mascot?" which can be discovered by anybody in 20 seconds with a web search, that's when the system is weak. Anyway, my high-school didn't have a mascot so I had to make something up.

Apple community

how do I change an iCloud account from 1992?

look at the date

*** years ago before you were born

[Edited by Moderator]

The account is 34 years old, it was different, really different and there was no choice. Check dates, it’s a long time ago