We’re told again and again how important it is to protect our identities. Identity theft is an increasing problem, and so are the related crimes of credit card theft and fraud. With this in mind, doesn’t the idea of phone recycling fly in the face of data protection?
Firstly, let’s look at why it’s a good idea to recycle mobile phone devices. You can make money by doing so, it means dangerous materials don’t get out into the environment and your phone might be re-used in an emerging market. So, looked at from every angle, recycling phones makes sense.
But what about your data? When we’re talking about data we’re talking about anything that might be on your phone. When you recycle Nokia phone models that are a little bit older this might just be numbers and texts, but with modern smartphones this could be anything, bank details, photographs, e-mail logins.
Leading phone recycling companies will offer data removal tools, which you can run on your phone before sending it off to be recycled. This is adapted for different phone models, and there are even versions for iPads. It depends on the phone recycling company you use, but there should be help-lines to call if you’re worried about your data.
Even if you’re confident your phone is free of data, a complete data removal tool could give you extra peace of mind, and most importantly ensure no trace of personal information ends up in the wrong hands.
