Security encouraged when recycling old mobile phones
Friday, December 2, 2011 - 09:38:27
A survey has found that a worrying level of UK mobile owners do not carry out comprehensive enough measures to protect their privacy when they sell their old phones.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents to a recent study said that they do not actually know how to erase all of their personal data from their current handsets and would only feel comfortable recycling their phone if they were endowed with this knowledge.
There have been some high profile cases in which old mobile phones that were sold on or recycled were found to contain sensitive information relating to the former owner, which could have been abused had it fallen into the wrong hands.
Sixty-five per cent of those questioned in the study said that they were uncertain that erasing their phone's memory would be enough to prevent malicious third parties from gaining access to their data.
For total security it is advised that mobile users who are going to recycle their phone should do a full factory restore, which brings the phone back to the same conditions that it was in when it rolled off the production line.
Most modern smartphones will have this feature available to users, although you will have to consult specific manufacturer instructions if you want to make your mobile safe for recycling.
People are also reminded to remove any SD memory cards from their phones before they sell them on or recycle them, since these can also contain information you might want to remain private and may not be wiped clean after a factory restore. The same applies to the SIM card, which is usually found next to the battery.
Since 90 per cent of the components within a typical mobile are able to be recycled, it makes sense to sell your old mobile phone and not leave it gathering dust at home, but security should also be on your list of things to do before recycling.
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