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I left my job and turned in my laptop.

On that work laptop, I used my "usual" personal password, as the password.

When I left and turned in the laptop, no-one asked for the password. A couple of weeks later my former manager starts texting me and calling me asking for the password. For security reasons (even stating this feels insecure) I can't give out that password. It's my "personal" password I use in other situations.

I want to get the laptop, login (with my "personal" password) and change the password to 12345678 for them, and give it back.

I offered to receive the laptop, either by having a former co-worker visit me, or have it sent via a courier service or something like that.

My manager and I setup a time for that, which he didn't honor. I offered to meet somewhere near the office when I was in the vicinity but that wasn't honored either.

Now they're bugging me again with texts and calls and I don't have the time to handle this.

What are the expectations here? Can i just simply say "I cant do this" and let it rest? What about "I'll get back to you when i got the time"?

I don't mind doing it, but only if it costs me minutes of my time.

BSMP
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pailhead
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    What information is your former manager trying to obtain? At one of my older jobs, I had got a laptop approved when others couldn't. When I left, my manager requested that I transfer the laptop to him and give him the password. I ended up wiping the laptop and giving it to him to set up with his own password before I left. – jcmack Nov 17 '18 at 21:52
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    Related: Do I have to relinquish my PC password to my former boss? – Bernhard Barker Nov 17 '18 at 22:05
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    If they've already failed to honour two agreed-upon meetings, whether you want to keep trying is completely up to you, and your problem isn't so much "they're asking for a password" as it is "they're not doing what they agreed to do". – Bernhard Barker Nov 17 '18 at 22:08
  • If I were in your manager's shoes, I will have broken tat password since you left instead of chasing you. – Wais Kamal Nov 17 '18 at 22:58
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    I don't know about the information they're trying to obtain nor do i care. I care about not writing down / sharing my password and now that i've read through the comments i care about logging out of facebook, gmail and bank accounts. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:21
  • please advise if t he questions needs updating given the comments and answers – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:21
  • Is there any way to set up remote login? (running daemon or the like?) – Captain Emacs Nov 18 '18 at 03:46
  • I already edited it for you. @pailhead - now that I get your question I've put in the correct answer. – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 05:33
  • Possible duplicate of Do I have to relinquish my PC password to my former boss? – motosubatsu Nov 19 '18 at 16:24
  • @Dukeling I would use that as a response to the employer. "Hello Bob, I tried to set up two reasonable times to reset the password but you declined. What do you want me to do?" – Dan Nov 19 '18 at 18:15
  • @pailhead why not just tell them you forgot your password??? – Ricky Kim Nov 19 '18 at 20:42
  • That seems confrontational. I don’t want that. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 23:34
  • Have you told someone that you have uncommitted code in the notebook before they called you? – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 20 '18 at 06:23
  • This happened to me recently. My previous company had a handover process in which my manager did not ask for the password. I assumed that they would wipe the laptop and reassign it to someone else. I was contacted multiple times by said manager regarding the password. I couldn't just go in, as I had moved over 100 miles away, so that was out of the question. Against my better judgement I chose not to give the password, by not replying at all. They have not contacted me since and I was given a satisfactory reference. I have started to use separate passwords for accounts now, it is easier. – nagrom97 Nov 20 '18 at 11:03
  • I’m not sure how much uncommitted code I have but I did work on something that morning. – pailhead Nov 21 '18 at 00:44

7 Answers7

23

If there is something on the computer they want to retrieve it's usually required that you give them access to the data.

But this doesn't mean you need to give them access to your account. Giving them your password opens up serious security and identity issues.

Apparently they don't have company IT department who could grant access, so they need your help. After they have failed twice to do what was agreed, you could start ignoring them. But if you don't want to burn bridges and/or start fighting, you may want to set up a meeting to correct the issue.

Once you get the computer:

  1. Create a new account
  2. Give it admin rights
  3. Transfer all required files from your personal account to a folder where this new account can access them (folder in root or something)
  4. Log in with the new admin account
  5. Delete your personal account
  6. Give them password for the new admin account
Sopuli
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    Is there some reasonable time frame for the 3rd meeting that wouldn't count as me yanking them around, and wouldn't count as them harassing me? – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:18
  • @pailhead Hard to say. I don't think there is universal timeframe for things like this and it's more of a personal opinion. I'd try to get things sorted within couple of weeks. – Sopuli Nov 18 '18 at 00:26
  • @Sopuli , 1-6 are irrelevant. It turns out the OP used a "personal" password. All OP has to do is take 15 seconds to log in, change the password to 12345678, and the issue is closed. – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 05:37
  • Yeah but I need to have access to the laptop. Commuting an hour into their office was too much when I worked there. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 07:30
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    @Fattie That would protect his other accounts where he re-used the same password. But still giving access to his work account is a bad security practice. It opens up the possibility to abuse the identity for both of the parties. Even if this is the standard in many places, it's still worth mentioning that you can hand over the data without compromising the identity/security. – Sopuli Nov 18 '18 at 13:39
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    hi @Sopuli ... I .. understand what you're saying clearly, but .. I guess it's hard for me to see an application for that. Are you invisaging: person P works at company C. She gets laptop L. She creates an account "A" on L. So, account A will sure have stuff such as code, a copy of Visual Basic, secret blueprints of the engine and so on. You're saying that within account A, person P may indeed also have stuff such as, you know, personal stuff relating to person P .. web searches, purchase of art gallery tickets, books they are reading etc. Have I understood you? (cont ....) – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 15:17
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    If that's what you mean, i guess then (1) you're right, that "personal stuff of P on account A" would have to be sequestered, removed. only the "actual corporate" stuff in A would be handed over, the rest ("actually personal") would ideally be erased from existence. But (2) could be a cultural thing, but that wouldn't happen in my neck of the woods? Account "A" is 100% business only. Zero comingling. – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 15:19
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    @Fattie This is getting a bit off-topic. There might be confidential discussions in slack/skype/etc. There might be documents, like your work contract, stock options etc. There might be confidential emails. There could be connection to database or server from that laptop with stored credentials. Just a few examples. All purely work related, but things that should not be disclosed to anybody else. Like said, you should never give your identity to anybody else, only the data. – Sopuli Nov 18 '18 at 15:58
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    those are good points, @Sopuli - good one. sort of "work but confidential" let's say – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 16:09
  • @Sopuli Great point - you don't know what you're inadvertently handing over and destroying your account is best. On that note it'd probably be prudent to 7. Zero out unallocated sectors on local discs too, although it doesn't sound like there's anyone too tech-savvy at your former workplace. – tmgr Nov 19 '18 at 13:15
  • "you should never give your identity to anybody else, only the data" - I think there's a fine line between a work identity and a personal identity, and I'm often surprised at how those are blurred. I would have no problem giving my employer full access to every byte of data on my work laptop, including the password to my account on that laptop. It's their property: my "identity" on that laptop only exists for work purposes, and is separate from my "identity" in the personal (digital) sense. – dwizum Nov 19 '18 at 14:46
  • You could also just not do anything of this and ignore their requests. You don't owe them anything after leaving their company. Seriously. You'll be fine. They'll find a way to access the laptop without your password and will leave you alone. – user91988 Nov 19 '18 at 18:13
  • @dwizum That's true usually, but not always. You might be authorized to do certain tasks, but the person receiving the password is not. It's reckless to just give up your identity without thinking the consequences. And it's possible to set up proper process without endangering the security. – Sopuli Nov 20 '18 at 09:55
5

Any IT department worth it's salt can hack a laptop to get in. Worst case scenario, they wipe the drive and start over with a new Image, which is what they should do anyway.

You returned the hardware, the rest is on them. Give them nothing more.

Old_Lamplighter
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4

There's an old adage: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". Well, it looks like you've been fooled twice, as you've tried to set up two in-good-faith meetings to rectify the situation, and they have in bad faith not met either of those meetings. At this point, in my opinion, it's on them to set up a meeting time that works for you, not the other way around. My response to their next communique would be something like this:

Sorry, but I've tried to set up a meeting with you guys twice in good faith to try to fix this situation. I simply cannot shanghai my schedule around you guys any more to schedule any more meetings which you have shown to not respect. You have my address [presumably they actually have this, usually you give it to them when you start employment]. I am working a new job now and my work hours are 9am-5pm [or whatever your hours are]. I need some commuting time, so please schedule a time to come to the local Moondollar coffee shop near my place after 6pm on a weekday evening to have this situation resolved. If you can't do that, then I'm sorry but I can't help you.

If they are unable or unwilling to schedule a meeting according to the time you've set out for them, then that's too bad for them; unless you have critical business information that you are legally liable for on that laptop, there's nothing they can do to make you work on their schedule. If they meet your schedule, then I defer to Sopuli's answer as to how to proceed. If, however, they schedule a meeting with you on your schedule and then miss it a third time, well, there's another adage for that: "Three strikes, you're out!" At that point I would just stop taking their calls and stop responding to their emails, and in the very extreme case that they don't get the hint, consider going to local law enforcement for harassment.

Ertai87
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  • I would not invite them at home. A coffee shop/neutral public ground is much better and provides a quick way of losing them quickly or tell them to get lost if they start being unpleasant. – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 19 '18 at 21:35
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    @RuiFRibeiro Fair enough. In reality I would probably do that as well, I just provided that as an example of something like what I might say, not what I actually would say. I'll edit the answer though to reflect that. – Ertai87 Nov 19 '18 at 21:36
3

You received a company laptop that you were given for work and returned it after you left the company.

  1. You should have given them the password when you returned the laptop.
  2. You should NOT have used the same password as you use privately.
  3. Give them the damn password and change your personal password...chances are you've been using it for too long anyways...

...oh and try not to use the same password everywhere, especially if it is a privacy sensitve account...

EDIT:
What people don't seem to understand and why this answer has almost as many downvotes as upvotes is:

  • I'm talking EXPLICITLY about OP's special case and circumstances!

  • the WORK relation ENDED and the employee was required (usually by contract) to return all company property.
    This naturally means in working order for machinery and tools.
    It of course includes the data stored on said tools and access to it.

  • the password guarding this access protects company property and business secrets.

  • the FORMER employee has no right anymore to posess, use or access company property

  • arguably - and this could be an interesting legal question - any data (including the password itself) stored on company property becomes also company property

Why is this not getting in some heads, that in order to properly hand over the WORK laptop and information on it the employee is required to relinquish access (THE PASSWORD) to the employer ?!

The fact that the employee used his personal password is irrelevant and solely the fault of this employee. Not to mention that this whole discussion about privacy issues loses any merit as soon as the employee does what we all should do regularly: CHANGE YOUR DAMN PASSWORD !!

As a side note:
I worked at companies where they had keyloggers and internet monitoring enabled on every workstation.
I worked at companies where there was NO internet acces on workstations.
Internet acces for work reasons was enabled on dedicated access points and private communication was allowed only on personal equipment and on a separate WIFI network.
There are even companies that hand you the workstation login password and you don't even have priviliges to change it.
Hell, I even worked at companies that didn't allow recoding equipment (including mobile phones) on the floor in the vicinity of displays or whiteboards.

Keep in mind: your workstation and anything you do on it may be monitored - legally !

All the work you do belongs to the employer and unauthorized use of the (often) expensive professional equipment and software licenses for personal projects for instance constitues a serious misuse of property.

...see what you made me do...exploding an answer from a few sentences into a tl;dr explanation of things that I assumed were obvious...

DigitalBlade969
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    Seriously? Your solution is to "give them the damn password"? If you're going to be rude and give a terrible answer, don't bother answering. You should never disclose your password. Even though I agree that he shouldn't have used his personal password, he may have exposed his personal accounts to security concerns, and that he should change his personal passwords, I don't see why he should have to give his password. He gave in his two weeks notice, his employer didn't mention anything about it at anytime, it is their fault, not his. – TwiN Nov 19 '18 at 04:56
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    The problem is, it is the companies WORK laptop with the WORK data it holds. By not giving them the password he basically didn't hand over the laptop / data, as it is unusable (not everyone knows how or wants to crack the login or reinstall the whole thing).There is NO private data supposed to be on that machine, so he won't give them access to his personal files and the fact that he uses the password elsewhere can (needs to) be remedied before he hands it over.My comment was in jest and to show how unprofessional his behaviour actually is.Don't be so salty about a snarky comment...k – DigitalBlade969 Nov 19 '18 at 05:09
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    It's not unusable, I have never had to provide my password after leaving a company, the de facto standard is for them to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS. Like I said, I agree with you on the personal password point, it shouldn't be used for non-personal stuffs, but it being a business laptop doesn't justify giving up your credentials because they neglected to ask for it (or warn you about it) during your 2 weeks notice. – TwiN Nov 19 '18 at 05:12
  • It may be practice if there is a proper IT department or at least one IT expert and they are being involved.But there are so many family businneses and one man show companies run by joe schmo who has no idea about such things. So for those it most certainly is unusable unless they pay someone to "fix" it. I'd be livid to say the least. – DigitalBlade969 Nov 19 '18 at 05:20
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    No one asked me for anything but the laptop. Things happened rather quickly, one thursday i put in my 2 weeks, the next morning i was escorted out of the office. I was a bit baffled but i thought they knew what they were doing. During that brief encounter, they just asked for the laptop, not the password. I thought i would at least hand off the code i've been writing for the last two weeks, including that morning but nothing was asked of me. Had they respected my two weeks im sure i would have cleared the password issue, handed back the asset properly etc. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 06:00
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    If i spend a couple of hours doing that now id like to get paid. If not, a few minutes at my place or a coffee shop nearby would do. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 06:00
  • The only data that's not already available to the company is possibly a few days worth of code that hasn't been committed. But i have doubts about that it could be hours. Either way it doesn't seem like it is worth anyone's time, but better theirs than mine now that im not on the payroll. I'm just wondering how valid is this way of thinking. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 06:01
  • It seems like it would be a totally different thing if i had two weeks to address the return of the laptop and i failed to comply, i wouldn't be posting this but would be in the first uber going back to the office. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 06:03
  • @pailhead ah,of course there is more to this story.it's not just the data on the laptop but they might want someone else to use it.Seems you didn't quite part on the best of terms(though being escorted of premises is common), not honoring the notice period requires special circumstances.disregarding, I still think to be done with them(unless you want to be more difficult and have some "fun") just give them the password and never again use personal passwords at work.Change your current password on all private accounts(even if you don't give it,it still might be compromised eventually). – DigitalBlade969 Nov 19 '18 at 06:12
  • @DigitalBlade969 thank you for the comment. I'm worried about this being construed as me being difficult or trying to have fun. I'm indifferent, but having to show up to the office again to do this would feel bad. If any fun is to be had here, i'd like them to actually get their hands on all the data and try to use it without me. If they want someone else to use the laptop, this does seem like a bit of a harassment, just wipe it and dont bother me. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 06:51
  • @pailhead Harassement is the correct word there. They want to show they still are in control despite you having left. – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 19 '18 at 11:56
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    Once you leave a company it is all their problem now. I made some effort to clean my last work laptop of personal info, but if you commingle anything, which is easy to do, then you open up risk. Never under any circumstances do you give out a password. If they feel there is something valuable on your laptop, they should have gotten it before you left. – Bill Leeper Nov 19 '18 at 20:38
  • @BillLeeper At least you scrubbed off your private info. BUT it still is your problem if you were by contract required to hand over ALL company property. They can sue you if you prevent them from accessing it. So either remove password protection or hand over the password. It's useless to you anyways ... unless you did what OP did and use it privately. Mind you, they don't know that,unless you told them that oh yeah,I do my online banking, facebook and porn with the same thing...for good measure here's a list of all websites and usernames that go with this password as well...SMH – DigitalBlade969 Nov 20 '18 at 07:32
  • In 20 years in the workforce, my former employers have had always the common sense of never asking personal passwords....because they know it is none of their business. – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 20 '18 at 14:01
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    The key word being PERSONAL. This is not them asking about personal passwords but the password to a work computer. The fact that is is a personal password is only because OP used his private password. For all we know the company has no idea it is a personal password unless OP told them.I've had multiple times account credentials handed over to me by IT to access work computers. I also never had them or others ask me for passwords that I set, because as has been said, IT wiped the machines or simply revoked my access after I left the company. – DigitalBlade969 Nov 20 '18 at 14:27
0

It seems they are playing power games, and you are letting them.

Either they are outright incompetent, or they are out there just to get your password for some unknown reason. e.g. It is trivial to get to the data they want from the notebook unless you used some form of encryption.

I would not worry so much about providing whatever they are asking as you already left the company and returned the notebook.

In fact, we might in Europe even have privacy laws protecting us from having to give a private password, be it your password your user from work or the same as personal use.

That said, if you have in writing that you tried in good faith to attend to their request, I would start ignoring their contacts; if not I would make a point of answer them via email and tell them since they failed the last two times, that you will only do that if they come a location near you (a nearby coffee shop for instance). In that way you also put in writing the last two occurrences.

Nevertheless, you have whatsoever no obligations to them anymore. Furthermore, it was both their fault they failed to meet you to take care of something of their interest, and the code was not committed because they escorted you out of the building.

I advise cutting their contacts short, and only complying to a court order if it comes to that - which I honestly doubt. The present situation is nothing but consequences of their own doing.

PS. As for managing passwords. I rarely use the same password in two different services, and I usually use 2FA in services that support them. The 2FA software is in my phone and my smartwatch. In my former work, when I handed them back their MacBook Pro, I just had to logout of my Gmail and disassociate it of my private Apple account.

Rui F Ribeiro
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  • This contradicts another answer though. Seems like i could get sued in the US. – pailhead Nov 19 '18 at 02:00
  • They also can try to sue here... Between the request not having any thecnical basis and you having documented the multiple enconteur failures... If you go there, just login and change the password, do not sign any form at all, even to get in, and if they have work clarification requests of any form, tell them to get lost. They seem to be bent on getting the password, and I think they will not accept a no. There could be other reasons, but I think they want to get you in the premisses to be able to coerce you into it. – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 19 '18 at 11:43
-6

I'm much more security aware than most, it's part of my professional responsibilities. But I have to say you're being ridiculous here.

What security concern or issue would you create by simply providing them the password via phone, SMS or email?

Does your previous laptop contain any sensitive, classified, credit card or other critical information?

Any security professional will tell you that you use security procedures that are appropriate to the information. This just sounds like you're being petty and a control freak for no valid reason.

Steve
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    It doesn't seem very nice to call OP ridiculous, petty and a control freak. – Bernhard Barker Nov 17 '18 at 23:44
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    Unless the usage of the computer was 100% professional with absolute no personal usage (and thus e.g. a stored facebook password or something else that's not the company's business) AND the password OP used on the laptop was completely unrelated from all his other passwords it's absolutely understandable that he doesn't want to give out that password. – ThiefMaster Nov 17 '18 at 23:48
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    The OP gives no indication at all that the computer contains personal information, nor any indication that he needs to remove anything at all. As written there is no justification what so ever for his behavior or demands. If he modifies his OP I'll modify my answer. – Steve Nov 17 '18 at 23:54
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    With proper IT they could gain access to the computer without giving password. If password is given, it jeopardizes both parties as your identity is shared now. Either one of the parties could commit a crime and blame the other one. This is a huge no-no and security aware person should know this. – Sopuli Nov 17 '18 at 23:59
  • @Sopuli I actually agree with you on this point. But he's perfectly willing to provide the password in person, which creates the exact same risks. So in this case providing the password via other means doesn't increase the risk at all. – Steve Nov 18 '18 at 00:06
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    I've logged into my personal gmail, my facebook, i've ordered tickets through ticketfly etc etc. But this is less of a concern than giving someone a password that is my password for something else. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:10
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    @pailhead that completely changes the context of your question! Why don't you update the question to indicate that the laptop contains personal information? – Steve Nov 18 '18 at 00:12
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    Can you please explain how is it relevant. I don't mind doing it but I want to understand. Ok i may be a bit concerned about logging out of my facebook but it does not have to happen. I don't want to utter, write down, or send over the wire my password, that can be used for other things. Ie. I want to get past the login screen, go somewhere and change the password, or even just give it at that point to the person who brings it. If i can log out of fb and gmail that is an added bonus. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:13
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    @Steve i'm not willing to provide anyone with my password, i'm willing to change the password to something like 12345678. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:23
  • @Steve Just saying, in such a situation, even if I didn't "remember" having any personal data there, after (probably) years of work this doesn't mean anything. Not giving access to this is the careful thing to do. Once given it can't be undone. – deviantfan Nov 18 '18 at 03:14
  • And @sopuli etc. about IT department: Usually yes, except when eg. everyone is encouraged to have fully encrypted HDD with a personal key only. etc. – deviantfan Nov 18 '18 at 03:19
  • @pailhead , it is indeed very confusing that you only now mention *you seem to have re-used your personal password* on that PC! – Fattie Nov 18 '18 at 05:28
  • Isn’t stating that reason a security risk on its own?! – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 10:14
  • @Dukeling: "It doesn't seem very nice to call OP ridiculous, petty and a control freak." but it's OK for everyone to trash-talk the employer, who for all intents and purposes, is just trying to reclaim something they own? It's not the employer's fault that the OP did personal things (logged into email, etc) on a WORK laptop. – dwizum Nov 19 '18 at 14:09
  • @dwizum (a) If you're unhappy with people trash-talking the employer, you're welcome to take an appropriate action on that. (b) Pointing out one bad thing doesn't imply anything about all other bad things - I'm not sure why you think I'm saying trash-talking the employer is okay. (c) I didn't see any trash-talking of the employer when I left that comment. (d) Directly insulting someone who came here for help is worse than insulting some anonymous party who will probably never even know (which, just to be clear, still doesn't say that's okay). – Bernhard Barker Nov 19 '18 at 14:35
  • @Dukeling to be clear, I don't think we should "trash-talk" anyone, and I wasn't quoting you as a way of disagreeing with the quoted sentence - I was quoting you as a way to state my own, related point (ie I feel I've already done what you suggested in (a)). On that note, I do disagree with you about your point (d): I feel that trash-talking an anonymous third party who isn't even able to represent themselves in the discussion is in pretty bad taste: it's easier and more popular to agree with the OP. I would happily downvote this answer based on it's tone, but upvote based on it's point. – dwizum Nov 19 '18 at 14:49
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    Any security personal will also tell you, you never ever forfeit your personal password. – Rui F Ribeiro Nov 19 '18 at 21:32
  • @RuiFRibeiro you are absolutely correct; if you'll review the comments and edits to the question you'll see that this information wasn't included in the original post. – Steve Nov 19 '18 at 23:40
  • The issue here is that they let me use my personal password and they let me log into facebook. – pailhead Nov 21 '18 at 01:23
  • What is the scale of “data” here? At best it might be some code I wrote that morning that didn’t even work, at worst it might be a few days of code that doesn’t work. Even this could have been remedied by having me commit the code every day. The laptop the would have no data that’s not already in the cluster. – pailhead Nov 21 '18 at 01:25
-12

Presumably you were asked to return that laptop with all the data on it. Which you didn't. Whose fault that is is another matter, but the company could sue you for damages. Would they win? Maybe yes, maybe not. Would it cost you time and money? Most definitely both.

If the password isn't sensitive to you (it's not a duplicate of your banking password or another password, for example) then just hand it over. If that's not secure, that's not your problem, they asked for it. If the password is sensitive to you (unlocks access to your bank account as well) go to your old company and change the password to "123456".

If you don't have the time for this, then legal action would be really, really inconvenient for you.

gnasher729
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  • I sat down with an HR person and my manager and they said something along the lines of "hand over your laptop" which i did. What is inconvenient for me is staying in San Francisco while there are hazardous air conditions. Probably not enough to get sued, i'm just wondering what kind of time line and compromise i can look for. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:15
  • So the part here is, go to your old company, i can't for various reasons. I will at some point. – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 00:16
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    Gnasher, he DID return the laptop with all of the data. That's the first line of the post. Security 101 is that you NEVER, EVER give up your personal password. If the company set up the laptop without a separate account, that's the company's screwup. Sopuli has the correct answer, which is to that the company gives the OP the laptop, he creates a new account, copies any necessary data to that account, and then deletes his old account. – DaveG Nov 18 '18 at 01:19
  • @DaveG If the data is not accessible because a login password is needed, then the data is not there. – gnasher729 Nov 18 '18 at 14:09
  • How is it know if data is there at all? – pailhead Nov 18 '18 at 22:29