An Apple fan who has spent “nearly 30 years as a loyal customer” says they’ve been “permanently” locked out of their Apple Account due to what might be the overzealous actions of Apple’s automated anti-fraud system. It’s left them locked out of “20 years of digital life,” and it all started with the seemingly straightforward purchase of an Apple gift card.
this happened to my 6 year old reddit account a couple weeks ago. i didnt break any rules that im aware of and its kinda devastating, as i use it to learn about tech and find new software. im happy to be here, and will remain active here, but it was such a valuable resource for me, and i feel like it was stolen from me.
Their first party account is an interesting read and available on their blog here:
https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/The post was updated yesterday with the following:
Update 14 December 2025: Someone from Executive Relations at Apple says they’re looking into it. I hope this is true. They say they’ll call me back tomorrow, on 15 December 2025. In the mean time, it’s been covered by Daring Fireball, Apple Insider, Michael Tsai, and others, thanks folks! I’ve received 100s of emails of support, and will reply to you all in time, thank you. Finger’s crossed Apple calls back.
Second Update 14 December 2025: No luck so far, and not looking good. Anyone got a good lawyer to send them a letter and/or help me sue them? paris AT paris.id.au
Even if they get back and correct all this, I hope the author learns a lesson and begins exporting his digital footprint to other services.
It’s pretty clear he’ll go right back to Apple like a dog to vomit.
Uh … yeah, it’s his livelihood. He writes books on programming with Apple machines. Of course he’s still going to do the things he’s been doing his whole life.
You don’t need to host your “digital life” with Apple for that. Nor do you need to host it in a single place either.
I dunno. If I had made my livelihood working in someone else’s walled garden for years and years, and they unceremoniously kicked me out one day with zero warning, I might begin to question things a little bit??
