Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone XS Lost my iPhone 4 years ago, still worried

H

Henners9

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2023
20
2
4 years ago I lost my iPhone and I’m not sure if I left it at my old apartment or in an old car of mine, my iPhone had some very personal photos of myself on and to this day it haunts me to think what happened to that phone and scares me if someone will ever see the photos I took of myself.

I just want to know if you would be still worried about this missing phone or would you simply move on? P.s I very stupidly never had a passcode
 
Apple_Robert said:
Move on with your life. Worrying about something you can’t change is time you will never get back.
Click to expand...
Thanks for replying! I think you’re so right. What’s the likelihood of this being found by someone now and that person doing something with my pics?
 
Henners9 said:
4 years ago I lost my iPhone and I’m not sure if I left it at my old apartment or in an old car of mine, my iPhone had some very personal photos of myself on and to this day it haunts me to think what happened to that phone and scares me if someone will ever see the photos I took of myself.

I just want to know if you would be still worried about this missing phone or would you simply move on? P.s I very stupidly never had a passcode
Click to expand...

Apple_Robert said:
Move on with your life. Worrying about something you can’t change is time you will never get back.
Click to expand...
This so much... If the pictures were somehow compromising or embarrassing, then perhaps someone saw them for a brief moment, and deleted them as they reset the phone. If you haven't had any grief from it, and for yours, then consider it ancient history. Also, consider it a lesson learned as to use the passcode and always have a back up of your photos and everything else. I've lost photos from my vacation because I wasn't diligent with my back up. It bugs me to this day that I failed to verify they were backed up. It was a very hard lesson learned, and hopefully I won't do it again
 
Did you not have it linked to your iCloud account so you could have put it in Lost Mode to lock it down, and/or remotely erase it? If it didn't have cellular service, it would have still have locked down or erased if/when someone connected it to Wi-Fi.
 
If someone was going to use your old phone's contents against you, they would have done so as soon as they got it. That's when it had most value. They didn't. They'll have wiped it, worried that you would have had a way to track it back to them, and then they either kept it or sold it for easy cash.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Saturn007 and Doug Vann
Henners9 said:
Thanks for replying! I think you’re so right. What’s the likelihood of this being found by someone now and that person doing something with my pics?
Click to expand...
It sounds like you’re still worrying. 😕
 
Henners9 said:
4 years ago I lost my iPhone and I’m not sure if I left it at my old apartment or in an old car of mine, my iPhone had some very personal photos of myself on and to this day it haunts me to think what happened to that phone and scares me if someone will ever see the photos I took of myself.

I just want to know if you would be still worried about this missing phone or would you simply move on? P.s I very stupidly never had a passcode
Click to expand...
There’s so much to unpack here.

Would I be worried? No. But the worst pictures of me on my iPhone are the ones that show how fat I am…the camera adds 10 pounds, you know, and the iPhone has 3 cameras so… 😬

Plus, I do use a passcode. You understand that it’s stupid not to (your word, not mine) so ‘nuff said about that.

Should YOU be worried? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe. With no passcode, the photos are plainly visible. Depending on exactly what the photos show (and please don’t elucidate; I have no need or desire to know) and what the possible consequences are… yeah, it might be worth worrying about. If there’s some secret loved ones don’t know about, it might do your conscious good to come clean to them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stanza.richi and missingar
Henners9 said:
4 years ago I lost my iPhone and I’m not sure if I left it at my old apartment or in an old car of mine, my iPhone had some very personal photos of myself on and to this day it haunts me to think what happened to that phone and scares me if someone will ever see the photos I took of myself.

I just want to know if you would be still worried about this missing phone or would you simply move on? P.s I very stupidly never had a passcode
Click to expand...
Did the phone have access to any E-mail accounts....and if so did you change the password?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doug Vann
Arxr said:
Did the phone have access to any E-mail accounts....and if so did you change the password?
Click to expand...

It did! I already changed those when I first lost it 4 years ago :)

My main question to you all is, as it’s been 4 years, would something have happened by now with the phone?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Arxr
There’s nothing you can do so you choice is to keep worrying (which is not going to change anything) or move on and learn from it. Stop being trapped for situations you can’t control.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Henners9
I wouldn’t worry about it. Your embarrassing photos are not really that interesting to anybody else. Most likely someone saw them, was excited to have found a free phone, and reset it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Saturn007 and Henners9
Live your life bro. 4 years too long of a time to worry. Use a passcode, keep it safe. And lock, mark it lost in find my.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Henners9
1rottenapple said:
There’s nothing you can do so you choice is to keep worrying (which is not going to change anything) or move on and learn from it. Stop being trapped for situations you can’t control.
Click to expand...

I promise I’ll stop worrying ahaha , you’re right, I would love an opinion to this question though, do you think if someone was going to do anything with the photo or my phone they would have by now?
 
Henners9 said:
I promise I’ll stop worrying ahaha , you’re right, I would love an opinion to this question though, do you think if someone was going to do anything with the photo or my phone they would have by now?
Click to expand...
No, I think they will exactly wait 7 years before they publish those photos online… just to mess with you.

Seriously, learn from your loss, protect your phone and data and get in with this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Henners9
jz0309 said:
No, I think they will exactly wait 7 years before they publish those photos online… just to mess with you.

Seriously, learn from your loss, protect your phone and data and get in with this.
Click to expand...

Haha yes I’m being silly I suppose, I’m also adding passcodes now! A lesson learnt
 
Henners9 said:
Haha yes I’m being silly I suppose, I’m also adding passcodes now! A lesson learnt
Click to expand...
In situation like this, I accept the worst case, plan a mitigation and move on. It isn’t worth to worry for long time. It’s good to accept, have a plan, and stop worrying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Henners9
TechnoMonk said:
In situation like this, I accept the worst case, plan a mitigation and move on. It isn’t worth to worry for long time. It’s good to accept, have a plan, and stop worrying.
Click to expand...
Do you think I really have to plan a mitigation now after 4 years?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back