Hello I wanted to know if it is possible to recover any data off of a reset iPhone. I allowed my son to use my old iPhone 4 as an MP3 player and for games. The understanding was that I would be checking up on what he was looking at and playing on it. Well last week I asked him for the phone to see what he's been up to. When he handed it to me it was factory reset. What I'd like to know is if there is a way to recover any of the videos, pictures, apps, notes, history... Basically anything that I can to see what he's hiding. He's basically a good boy but I've caught him watching and downloading stuff that a 13 year old shouldn't be downloading before. Right now I have him digging up an old tree stump as punishment for trying to play me, but if he's hiding something......well he may be shoveling rocks for a few days too.
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My son is trying to hide something.
- Thread starter Damanc
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I don't think there's any easy way to do that, no.
I know you didn't ask for advice but I'd just say that maybe the relationship with the phone should be based a bit more on trust. If he isn't trustworthy enough to use it responsibly, maybe he just shouldn't have it at all?
I know you didn't ask for advice but I'd just say that maybe the relationship with the phone should be based a bit more on trust. If he isn't trustworthy enough to use it responsibly, maybe he just shouldn't have it at all?
I concur.
Their has to be a trust factor here.
If your teenager wanted to access material they could do it in a number of places.
Discuss your concerns and then your going to have to step back and let the teenager make informed decisions and be there when and where needed.
If you push too hard the natural reaction is to rebel.
With every action is a re action.
Their has to be a trust factor here.
If your teenager wanted to access material they could do it in a number of places.
Discuss your concerns and then your going to have to step back and let the teenager make informed decisions and be there when and where needed.
If you push too hard the natural reaction is to rebel.
With every action is a re action.
I appreciate the advice guys. I do give him a lot of leeway as far as trust. I also understand that he's a teenage boy and as a former teenage boy, I know that when I wanted to find porn and things like that, it was easy enough to get. But I also remember the kids from columbine (I know it's an extreme example) and how their parents knew nothing of what they were doing till it was too late. The thing is the trust went away when he tried to hide what he was doing despite our agreement. Honestly I would have been less harsh with the punishment if he had just left everything alone and I had found stuff he shouldn't have been looking at. But he didn't, and worse he tried to cover it up. I'm trying to teach him to have integrity and to own up to his mistakes. It can be harsh at times. But I hope for him to be a good honest young man who honors his agreements, accepts his mistakes and learns from them.
2 ways :
iCloud : if the device had iCloud backup "ON" just go into Settings / iCloud and log in with the Apple ID and restore from a previous back up.
iTunes : When the phone is synced with iTunes it does a backup. Connect the phone to the computer wich was use for syncing the iPhone and then select "Restore from backup".
Anyways, I think it's time to have "The Talk" with your boy about the "naughty stuff".
iCloud : if the device had iCloud backup "ON" just go into Settings / iCloud and log in with the Apple ID and restore from a previous back up.
iTunes : When the phone is synced with iTunes it does a backup. Connect the phone to the computer wich was use for syncing the iPhone and then select "Restore from backup".
Anyways, I think it's time to have "The Talk" with your boy about the "naughty stuff".
Hopefully it was just something he found embarrassing. That can happen. I'm not sure you can really access any of that at this point, but I hope everything goes well beyond this point.
I don't know if you can recover what was on the device after the reset. But I can talk about have teenage son and being a parent in this digital age.
My son is 17...he has a 13 in MBP...iPhone 5 and uses my iPad sometimes. In order for him to have these things we have an agreement. I can look at examine his stuff at anytime i choose. I have inspected web history and browsing habits from time to time over the years. He knows he will lose these privileges if he breaks the rules. I trust my son. But also realize he is a teenage boy......... I also know that him and his friends know how to cover their tracks pretty much if they wanted to. I let my son know that if it looks like he is trying to hide something by erasing history and so forth on his MBP and phone then........I am sure there is something to hide. So far he does not not hide things and is very upfront with communication. Also at 17 i had to inform him about girls texting inappropriate pictures of themselves. My son is 17 almost 18...if the girl is young (under 16) then he could face charges if her parents found out. I googled some of the times this has happened and how much trouble the kids got into for it and showed him. But it comes down to building trust between you and your teenagers. They are going to be faced with so many things growing up.....Build the trust foundation now and also let him know that you can and will always find things out. So it is better to be upfront and honest.
In the UK they have announced that UK house holds will have to opt in to watch porn online. Hopefully this will take a lot of the temptation away, but there are always work arounds, and our kids probably know them better than us.
My 11 year old has her own iPad and I occasionally look through her browser history. I completely trust her because she is a smart girl and has no interest in a lot of the stuff other kids her age are into (she's got higher functioning autism).
Perhaps taking a look at your ISP safe settings and not asking to borrow the device to check on next time? Then hopefully you can start to talk about the things he is looking at, rather than worrying about the things that he might be looking at.
My 11 year old has her own iPad and I occasionally look through her browser history. I completely trust her because she is a smart girl and has no interest in a lot of the stuff other kids her age are into (she's got higher functioning autism).
Perhaps taking a look at your ISP safe settings and not asking to borrow the device to check on next time? Then hopefully you can start to talk about the things he is looking at, rather than worrying about the things that he might be looking at.
I wouldn't be worried about any porn this teenage boy is watching as much as what types of communication he is engaged in. As another poster mentioned, you should talk to him about the various kinds of trouble he could get into if he exchanges naked pics with someone or posts them online.
I'd stop trying to check up on him and just talk to him. There are 9 year olds in my neighborhood with their own fully functional iPhones so I'm not sure why your 13 year old can't be trusted--unless he's got some kind of history.
I'd stop trying to check up on him and just talk to him. There are 9 year olds in my neighborhood with their own fully functional iPhones so I'm not sure why your 13 year old can't be trusted--unless he's got some kind of history.
I agree. Social media is a much bigger concern now. A future employer may check out a Facebook or Twitter account.
^^^^ This. If he ever backed up the phone, this will get the phone back to the point of his last backup. And if it was the iCloud backup, I think that does it nightly.
Just as a related anecdote:
My best friend's parents blocked his computer a lot when we were 13-16. First, they installed some filtering program on the computer; we figured out how to disable it. Second, they installed some filtering on the router; we figured out how to use a proxy. Third, they installed VNC so that his Dad could watch what we were doing while at work, and if needed take over the computer; we figured out how to compromise his admin account to the computer. Fourth, they took away his computer; we figured out how to use the parent's computer.
The point is, for us it became more of a cat-and-mouse game. The objective was to solve this puzzle of finding porn. Eventually, the thrill was hacking his parent's attempts to block us, and not the porn itself. We both turned out fine, and learned a ton about network security, Windows registry, and related.
As a takeaway, I think you should start by turning on parental filtering on your home router as a challenge for your son to get around it (though, don't expressly say it like that). If/when he does, up the ante.
My best friend's parents blocked his computer a lot when we were 13-16. First, they installed some filtering program on the computer; we figured out how to disable it. Second, they installed some filtering on the router; we figured out how to use a proxy. Third, they installed VNC so that his Dad could watch what we were doing while at work, and if needed take over the computer; we figured out how to compromise his admin account to the computer. Fourth, they took away his computer; we figured out how to use the parent's computer.
The point is, for us it became more of a cat-and-mouse game. The objective was to solve this puzzle of finding porn. Eventually, the thrill was hacking his parent's attempts to block us, and not the porn itself. We both turned out fine, and learned a ton about network security, Windows registry, and related.
As a takeaway, I think you should start by turning on parental filtering on your home router as a challenge for your son to get around it (though, don't expressly say it like that). If/when he does, up the ante.
I appreciate everybody's advice, my son is usually a really good kid. I am going to leave it be as far as figuring out what was on the phone, I'm going to remember to have the talk with him about pics from girls, and I'm going to sit him down again and have the integrity talk with him....again.
Next time you hand him an iPhone you should spend some time in Restrictions; they've become pretty powerful.
Additionally, the backup will restore the iPhone to before the reset. This was either done over iCloud (set it up next time) or check any computers he may have plugged the iPhone into.
Additionally, the backup will restore the iPhone to before the reset. This was either done over iCloud (set it up next time) or check any computers he may have plugged the iPhone into.
I know its been a while for some of us but lets not forget we were all thinking and doing the same things pretty much when we were 13-14 years old.
Just like any other normal boy this age he's going to want to look at naked pics.
Don't crucify him over it.
Just like any other normal boy this age he's going to want to look at naked pics.
Don't crucify him over it.