Can Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google Delete Your Bitcoin?

Rage Review : The example of device vendors such as Apple and Amazon deleting customer files has caused people to worry about the security of Bitcoin. Paper currency can be stored by a third party, but how can Bitcoin, as a computer code, be kept safe? After all, it is easily affected by device vendors. If you accidentally lose or delete the Bitcoin code, or a third party deletes your Bitcoin without authorization, the loss will be huge. Therefore, in order to avoid this frustrating situation, the author puts forward five small suggestions, including wallet selection and backup.

Translation: Annie_Xu

If Apple or another hardware or service provider decided to delete your computer files, would you end up losing a ton of money?

In an age where different hardware, services, and streaming providers can access our hardware, are our files still safe?

Companies can change history

James Pinkstone of Vellum Atlanta wrote in a blog post:

"One day you won't need to buy movies anymore, you'll only need to buy the right to see them, and you can see any movie you want. If the company that provides the movie doesn't want you to see it or wants to change the movie, they must have permission. They can change history and make you keep paying for things you bought before. Information will become a public utility rather than a property; even the information you create yourself will require endless repeated payments to gain access."

It’s hard to imagine Apple, Microsoft, or Google deleting an app from your phone because you violated their terms of service, and that app could be a Bitcoin wallet. If that happens, how would you get your money back?

They can and will delete your data

In May 2016, Pinkstone wrote a blog post titled "Apple Stole My Music. No, Seriously," discussing how he was unable to access his computer files after canceling his Apple Music account.

His blog post detailed what happened to the computer files after that, and was later reposted, even causing Apple to send two technical support personnel to his home to find out the cause. This kind of thing is not uncommon, and it is often heard.

An investigation report shows that Apple iTunes deleted users' music files without authorization.

"A very small number of users have reported that music files stored on their computers were deleted without permission. We know how important music is to our customers, so we take it very seriously and have sent someone to investigate. However, we have not been able to reproduce this problem, but we will release an upgraded version of iTunes with additional protection next week. Customers who encounter this situation again should contact the Apple repair center immediately."

Musicians would be upset if they lost their music files, but what would you do if Apple deleted most of your life savings, such as Bitcoin?

Bitcoins are just computer files, after all.

Amazon Kindle

In 2012, the British Guardian reported the experience of a Norwegian woman named Linn. Amazon even cancelled her account, deleted all the reader files, and warned her that she would never be able to apply for an account again.

The Guardian published the content of the email that Amazon sent to the woman at the time.

"We found that your account is directly linked to an account that was previously blocked for violating the terms, so we blocked your account and rejected all your applications. Please be aware that the account is permanently closed, and any reopened account will be blocked. Thank you for your understanding of our decision."

People talked about it for years afterwards.

However, this does make us start to worry. What will happen if we use a device or computer to store Bitcoin and the device manufacturer says that you are a non-compliant user?

Deleting Bitcoin

There are many ways to lose Bitcoin, not necessarily because a large computer company decides that you can no longer access your wallet. Sometimes users don't make backups and only have one Bitcoin wallet or device. James Howells, a Welsh IT worker, threw away a hard drive with 7,500 Bitcoins, and these valuable Bitcoins were buried under thousands of tons of garbage.

Some people even stored Bitcoin in a USB, but ended up overwriting it with other data.

The fact we see is that Bitcoin can be easily deleted by mistake or by a third party; therefore, it is very important to keep it safe. You can keep paper money in your own vault without worrying about third-party interference; or check your clothes before throwing them into the washing machine; but why not keep your digital currency in this way?

Ways to prevent losing your Bitcoins

Here’s how you should do it so that Apple or anyone else can’t touch your Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

1. Invest in a good hardware wallet;

2. Don’t store all your bitcoins in one wallet;

3. Write a medical prescription or instructions for your digital assets;

4. Make a wallet backup, or at least keep the key safe;

5. If using mobile wallets, make sure they are independent of any platform.