I will maybe order the WD my cloud home. I read in the User manual about the Reset Button Function:
“Press for 30 to 50 seconds: This function will demote the Device Owner to a Device User in order to change ownership of the My Cloud Home device. This does not delete data and each user still has access to their data. However, when this process occurs, the next user to go through the setup process on the device becomes the device owner. The remaining users on the device are unchanged.”
So if another person will come in the room where the device is, he can become the new owner of the device, even without permission of the real owner, because the new owner doesn’t need to know the password of the previous owner; he can only press the reset button. Right? If this is right, I’m afraid about what the new owner can do with the data saved on the device. Can the new owner (who uses the same router) also read or copy the files of the previous owner (and other users) which are saved on the device? Or can I be sure that the new owner or another person can never read or copy my files? Can I be sure that my data will be as secure as on, for example, WD My passport, secured with a good password?
MCH does not encrypt your data, it only puts an authentication layer in front of it for remote access.
Anyone with physical access can chuck the drives and read the contents. It assumes you can trust the people in your home.
New owner = someone in your house, right?
When you sell the device, I’d delete all data first.
Tfl, thanks for reaction! Yes, new owner = someone in my house, or a person who would take the MCH to another location without my permission.
You wrote: “Anyone with physical access can chuck the drives …”, do you mean that the MCH needs to be unscrewed or taken apart for physical access to the hard disk? Do you mean that the new owner cannot read the saved data in another, more normal way?
As I wrote, I read in the manual that someone, by pressing the reset button, can become the device owner. Apparently without needing a password. Can this new device owner not read the content without unscrewing the MCH?
AFAIK, that is correct.
Note: reset button is usually intended to clear forgotten passwords, including the admin password.
I think this reset allows the new owner to set a new password for existing users (note: this is speculation).
Anyway, you’d get email notifications of this event.
Another question related to data security and the possibility of a new device owner (see above):
I read about ‘Private Space’ and ‘Public Share’ in MCH. Is it better to place my files in ‘Private Space’, or does this not matter for the security of the content?
