
Hacking My Mother’s Phone to Save Her Memories - tysone
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/opinion/hacking-phone-privacy.html
======
docker_up
After going through my dad's computer while trying to fix it for him, I
realized that there are a lot of things I really don't want to know about my
parents. Everything I know about them is enough. Digging through their texts,
their browsing history, their emails, etc is not fair in my opinion, and
better left unread.

~~~
xgulfie
I have a similar story.

I bought a used NAS at a garage sale. The woman said it was her husband's, who
had passed away a couple months ago.

I took it home and fired it up. It didn't have a password on it or anything.
So I went looking through photos of the backyard, birdfeeders, and thought
"wow it's so sad this stuff was just given away". I felt bad for the family
who might be missing all his photos.

Then after a few more minutes it got way darker. The NAS had what looked like
child porn on it. Some candid videos of a teenage girl adjusting her bra when
she thinks nobody's looking, some more hardcore porn with someone who either
was or at least tried really hard to look underaged.

So now here I was, in possession of child pornography (maybe?), on a drive
from a garage sale, belonging to a dead man. That is a fucking dilemma. A
million scenarios ran through my head. Was this was some sort of set-up? Would
I face criminal charges for possessing this?

I took it to the police, they eventually reviewed it and told me there was
nothing illegal on it. They asked me if I wanted it back, I told them to
dispose of it.

~~~
notzuck
I would have gone to the police with my lawyer, I would have asked for
everything I say to be recorded. You were trusting the police to do the right
thing bye you. Risky strategy.

~~~
xgulfie
Yeah in retrospect I should have just put a drill bit through it. But at the
time I was just very afraid and wanted to do "the right thing".

------
mholt
Not quite what I expected when I clicked on this, but anyway.

I would never treat my phone as my only copy of my data. I don't consider
phone storage to be permanent OR a backup.

If you're into preserving your memories that are locked into your online
services and apps like Google Photos, Facebook, Twitter, etc, I've started a
project called Timeliner which downloads your data to your own home computers:
[https://github.com/mholt/timeliner](https://github.com/mholt/timeliner) \- I
run it on a cron every week.

~~~
autoexec
I've been looking for something like this for Reddit. I'd love to be able to
pull down all of my comments there (ideally with context).

The only things on my phone that I don't regularly back up are text
conversations. I've seen tools that forward all your texts to a gmail account,
but I'm not really looking to give all that data to Google assuming they
aren't already reading them off my device.

~~~
froindt
I've used SMS Backup and Restore on Android. Exports to xml, and can include
mms if desired.

It's pretty good overall, though emojis can cause issues. They offer 2
settings on how to handle them.

------
kennyadam
Weird title. They never managed to get in to the phone. They just took the SIM
out and put it in another phone to use 2FA SMS codes, along with logins they
found written down.

~~~
Maximus9000
IMO hacking is getting into a system by any means. Ultimately they were going
after the "memories" which were all stored on the cloud. They needed to get
into that. They determined they didnt need to get into the phone in order to
get into the cloud.

~~~
LannisterDebt
I thought iCloud contents were all encrypted?

    
    
      No one else, not even Apple, can access end-to-end encrypted information [1]
    

[1] [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT202303)

~~~
xvector
End-to-end encryption only works for “certain sensitive information” according
to your link. A close inspection at the link you provided reveals that just
about nothing of value aside from the Keychain is E2EE.

------
the_snooze
I'd feel a bit weirded out at the prospect of someone going through my digital
records after I pass. Not so much for my own embarrassment (I'd be too dead to
feel that, after all), but to protect the trust and confidentiality of
everyone I've communicated with.

~~~
admax88q
On the other hand it would be super interesting if we _could_ get in to
people's data maybe several generations after they've passed. Imagine what
historians could learn about what life was like hundreds of years ago if those
people left the same digital footprints that we're creating today.

~~~
wccrawford
But also imagine all the wannabe journalists that would just do character
assassinations on long-dead people revered as heroes for a quick buck and some
internet fame. They would completely ignore all the harm it would do.

Worse, there would be those that would do that same thing with plenty of
intent to cause harm, especially to the groups they are prejudiced against.

It's the problems from the "right to be forgotten", but taken to the next
level.

~~~
781
> _But also imagine all the wannabe journalists that would just do character
> assassinations on long-dead people revered as heroes_

That's an easy one. Pretty much anyone of notice living today will be labeled
a "savage meat eater" and canceled. They will say _" many people were already
vegan, why was he/she still eating meat? Clearly a monster. Cancel"_

~~~
chacha2
If they fund industrial farming they would be right to make that moral
judgement.

------
joshstrange
I wonder how long (if ever) it will be until we have really good mechanisms
for handling digital affairs after death. 1Password has the emergency kit [0]
which I really should fill out and store alongside a will but I would need to
write one of those first. It's just something that seems so.... antiquated?
That's not the right word but writing a will feels like it will involve
talking to a lawyer and not be cheap/easy. Does anyone have any good resources
for setting up a will (also a living will if possible) through some
software/service? I don't really want to trust my will to some startup but I'd
use a product that put all the legalese together and I could just hand a
binder to a lawyer or shove it in a security deposit box or something like
that.

[0] [https://support.1password.com/emergency-
kit/](https://support.1password.com/emergency-kit/)

~~~
rjohnk
I've been diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. While I hope to be around for
awhile yet, I'm getting things ready for my wife to take over our digital
life. Setting things up for easy backup and retrieval, ect. One of the things
I've started is a

Word document with instructions on how to backup, what to do if the computer
crashes, how to handle 1Password, what subscriptions are important ect. It'll
be printed out and put in the safe.

My opinion is modern generations are woefully unprepared for how to handle our
digital stuff when we pass. Whereas before we had physical photos, video
cassettes, ect. that were easily handled, now everything is digital, sometimes
just on phones.

~~~
mceachen
Having the physical photos still didn't mean we saved the context and
relevance surrounding those images.

I've got boxes of photos from my Mom and Dad and Grandparents. For the most
part, they don't have dates or captions. If I don't recognize a face, it's
just random imagery that are, for the most part, just noise to my generation.
If we knew _why_ something was relevant, that'd be a different story.

If you can record your voice and retell the story behind an image, that could
be _golden_ to the people in your life. I only captured a couple of these
recordings (just using my cell phone to record), and they're wonderful to
listen to.

~~~
mulmen
In the 1990s my cousins and I did a series of interviews with my grandfather
about his experiences in WWII. Last year my cousin found the cassette tape of
her interview and we all listened to it at Christmas. That was the first time
I had heard my grandfather's voice in a decade.

In the 90s the stories themselves were interesting but now just having his
thoughts in his voice is invaluable. I'd be equally happy with a recording of
him describing his weekly coffee with his buddies, or what he had for lunch.

My parents picked up a couple of recordable storybooks for my 2 year old
nephew. Right now those mean nothing to him but in 30 years they will be
priceless.

~~~
jeena
I did record a special episode of my podcast just one year before he died. He
was 86 at that time and my last living grand parent, so it was quite obvious,
now or never. I'm really happy to have done 1.5 hours him remembering his
childhood and youth as a German teenager during and after WWII
[https://jeena.net/pods/6](https://jeena.net/pods/6) (it's in Polish/Silesian)

My other grand dad wrote a long letter just two days before he died. His whole
life he was haunted by what he saw and did as a German soldier during WWII,
and this is also what he wrote about in that letter which I later translated
and published on my website [http://paradies.jeena.net/artikel/zweiter-
weltkrieg](http://paradies.jeena.net/artikel/zweiter-weltkrieg) (in German)
(need to fix the char set there too).

~~~
jacquesm
That is very precious material. As the world slides closer and closer to the
last of those who saw these things with their own eyes dropping off the
chances of repetition are increasing and their real life memories may be just
what will stop the next round of madness. Thank you very much for doing this.

------
zrail
In a related vein, I created a thing called VMSave a few years ago to let
people easily save outgoing voicemail messages, something that the carriers
make significantly harder than it should be. It’s saved almost 15,000 messages
so far.

[https://vmsave.petekeen.net](https://vmsave.petekeen.net)

~~~
mulmen
This is really neat. I despise voicemail and never use it but for those that
do it would be wonderful down the road.

~~~
zrail
Thanks!

------
turkeytotal
This story is another testament to the dangers of using SMS as second factor.

------
williamscales
Physical security keys seem nice here. If I am taken out by a bus my master
password and backup security key can be used to get in to everything.

~~~
larrik
What happens if they get destroyed in the bus accident?

Or you go missing entirely (lost at sea)?

~~~
tgsovlerkhgsel
Backup security key implies that there are two, and he already plans for the
primary one to be lost.

------
jacquesm
There are some pretty explicit instructions as to what should happen to my
digital stuff after I pass away, no need for any of my offspring to go digging
around in there. If there is anything that I think they need to know I'll be
sure to give it to them firsthand.

------
DigitalTerminal
Can’t stand to read this. The parts of a person’s story they’ve chosen to keep
private are the parts most likely to get interpreted and twisted—fragile,
subjective, even mutable truths they’ve chosen to hold private. That choice is
sacred. Shame on those who trespass.

------
mirimir
Seeing the title, I thought it'd be about Mom who dropped her phone, had a
stroke, or whatever. And was still alive. That'd be sweet.

But for dead Mom? That's just plain creepy. Those kids might have learned all
sorts of things that, in retrospect, they would have wished they hadn't. As
in, for example, who their real Dad was.

Me, all of my machines and backups are full-disk encrypted (LUKS). With >64
character passphrases. So my memories will die with me. Except for those that
I share online, anyway. And I do plan, as I get older, to share more freely.
Given that there'll be less time to find me.

------
elvecinodeabajo
There's no reason to snoop on a dead person's personal data. It's a backstab
to privacy.

Nothing to be proud of.

------
somerandomness
One takeaway: always put a PIN on your SIM card?

~~~
koala_man
Don't use SMS based 2FA.

NIST recommends against it because it's so easy to hijack.

~~~
somerandomness
Is it easy to break a SIM pin?

~~~
organsnyder
What about taking control of the phone number itself? Unauthorized porting can
probably be accomplished with a bit of social engineering.

------
cooldude420
That’s why I think hard drives and passwords should become more widespread in
wills

