Thursday, November 14, 2024

security – How to erase personal data from a MacBook Pro that is locked via MDM

I am dealing with a company MacBook Pro model A2918, M3 chip, made in 2023. The company terminated me, and I am trying to remove my personal data from it before returning it. However, the company locked me out of the machine and is refusing to let me back into it. They claimed they would wipe the machine when they receive it, but I don’t entirely trust them and want to remove things on my end first.

Currently when I open the laptop, I see “This Mac is Locked. The System PIN is required to use this Mac.” They have another admin user account on Mac OS and have Kandji MDM software set up on the machine. Not sure if this screen is from Kandji or something else.

This Mac is Locked screen

I do have Find My set up on the device under my user account, and I do see the device when I log into iCloud on another machine, so could try to remote erase the device using Find My, but I’m not sure if that would be effective given the lock screen I am seeing.

Personal data that I want to remove includes:

  1. Emails saved locally using Apple Mail
  2. Calendar events saved locally using Apple Calendar
  3. Passwords synced locally using 1Password 6
  4. Files synced locally in Google Drive for desktop
  5. Logins to various services (including Google) in Firefox, Chrome, and Mac OS (for Apple Mail and Calendar)
  6. iCloud account
  7. Contacts
  8. iMessage conversations

I can remote log out from some of these things but am really looking for a single “erase” option at the OS level if possible. What are my options?

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