Mobile recyclers questioned over data security
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 - 11:14:51
Consumers have a right to be concerned about the integrity of their private data after they decide to recycle their old mobile phones.
While there should be a growing awareness of the need to completely erase all identifying information from an unwanted handset that you intend to sell or recycle, there is also an obligation for recycling providers to actually help customers achieve this, without having to worry about sensitive data being compromised further down the line.
A modern mobile can and will hold a huge amount of information, which could of course be exploited for fraudulent purposes, if it falls into the hands of a malicious third party.
A new study conducted on behalf of CompareMyMobile, has revealed the policies of 16 of the UK's most significant mobile phone recycling companies, many of which make interesting reading if you are concerned about data security.
Envirofone states that it alerts customers to the need to carry out data deletion prior to sending in a phone, as well as getting them to take the SIM card out. It goes on to say that factory resets are carried out by companies which it then sells the phones on to and it has had no security issues over the course of the last eight years.
Mazuma Mobile says that sometimes it can be difficult to completely remove all personal data, particularly if the handsets it receives have been protected by a password, which the user neglected to remove. As such, it offers a free data deletion tool to help completely cleanse devices before users even have to pop them in the post.
There are many other responses with different levels of detail relating to data deletion policies, but it seems that most mobile recycling companies have a fairly robust reputation in this area.
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