The interesting thing is how many questions of this kind are asked by first-timers (feels like 95% up). It's rarely one with rep coming up with such a question. Next interesting fact is how often the OP shows up afterwards: I'd say 80% up do never show up again, 10% just on the very first day to prove their point and destroy doubts, if possible. Which makes it quite suspicious.

Don't take me wrong: The information is freely available if you know the sources, you don't even have to identify yourself to get it. That's why I'd say "big fish" never turns up like that ("big fish" not only knows where the food is, but also "how to get the crab out of its shell"). So what's left must be either "small fish" (those who just "found" a single device -- which is not worth the big research and maybe little to big monetary investment), and people of "legitimate interest".

Not being interested in the former, this leaves the latter. Who are they? People like t0mm13b, who are simply technically interested, or willing to help "friends in need" (i.e. people they know). These usually already have a higher rep -- and I see no reason to hide things from them. But then there's the last remaining group: those without any rep, who just f***ed off their device (in this case -- call me bad -- it's a good point to start learning not to fiddle with things you don't understand -- or to be more careful with your sensitive stuff, sorry), or in fact had "bad stuff happening" (the brothers little daughter playing with the... how did she get her hands on it?).

So my opinion on this: I go with t0mm13b. If technically possible, real sensitive stuff should require a certain rep (at least 1,000+). Everybody below that level could still get the "obvious legitime solutions", such as to specify their Google credentials on a messed-up pattern lock, or see their local Rabbi¹... oops, service technician. If it's really your device, you have the papers to prove -- and the solution to your problem is reached faster when taking those papers and looking up a service point (you can return successfully just within minutes) but to prove the legitimacy to "us".

If it's really a legitime thing, (s)he will do so. For a petty thief, even this little effort will be too much -- and if it requires more afford, (s)he probably doesn't find it as worth the next time.

¹SYLOR is the term for getting sensitive information on e.g. our judaism stack (See Your Local Orthodox Rabbi. Meaning: This is real sensitive (and maybe personal) stuff which should be explained by an expert face-to-face: He can identify you and tell you what you really should know -- as opposed to what you say you need to know -- guess you get my point.

The interesting thing is how many questions of this kind are asked by first-timers (feels like 95% up). It's rarely one with rep coming up with such a question. Next interesting fact is how often the OP shows up afterwards: I'd say 80% up do never show up again, 10% just on the very first day to prove their point and destroy doubts, if possible. Which makes it quite suspicious.

Don't take me wrong: The information is freely available if you know the sources, you don't even have to identify yourself to get it. That's why I'd say "big fish" never turns up like that ("big fish" not only knows where the food is, but also "how to get the crab out of its shell"). So what's left must be either "small fish" (those who just "found" a single device -- which is not worth the big research and maybe little to big monetary investment), and people of "legitimate interest".

Not being interested in the former, this leaves the latter. Who are they? People like t0mm13b, who are simply technically interested, or willing to help "friends in need" (i.e. people they know). These usually already have a higher rep -- and I see no reason to hide things from them. But then there's the last remaining group: those without any rep, who just f***ed off their device (in this case -- call me bad -- it's a good point to start learning not to fiddle with things you don't understand -- or to be more careful with your sensitive stuff, sorry), or in fact had "bad stuff happening" (the brothers little daughter playing with the... how did she get her hands on it?).

So my opinion on this: I go with t0mm13b. If technically possible, real sensitive stuff should require a certain rep (at least 1,000+). Everybody below that level could still get the "obvious legitimate solutions", such as to specify their Google credentials on a messed-up pattern lock, or see their local Rabbi¹... oops, service technician. If it's really your device, you have the papers to prove -- and the solution to your problem is reached faster when taking those papers and looking up a service point (you can return successfully just within minutes) but to prove the legitimacy to "us".

If it's really a legitimate thing, (s)he will do so. For a petty thief, even this little effort will be too much -- and if it requires more afford, (s)he probably doesn't find it as worth the next time.

¹SYLOR is the term for getting sensitive information on e.g. our judaism stack (See Your Local Orthodox Rabbi. Meaning: This is real sensitive (and maybe personal) stuff which should be explained by an expert face-to-face: He can identify you and tell you what you really should know -- as opposed to what you say you need to know -- guess you get my point.