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HomeBlogFebruary, 2009

Learn How to Dispose of Cell Phones


Remember when the McCain campaign had that garage sale a few months back and sold two BlackBerries with hundreds of GOP contacts still saved on them? It may have seemed like a silly blunder to those who heard about it at the time, but it turns out that most of us are just as careless with our mobile phones and handheld devices as the McCain staffers were with theirs.

99% of Cell Phone Recyclers Neglect to Erase Data

According to a study by Regenersis, one of the leading electronics recycling firms in the world, 99 percent of recycled cellular phones are handed over with their owners personal information and contact lists completely intact. The company did a random sampling of 2000 devices in the month of December, and found that only a handful of consumers had bothered to delete information like emails, banking data, or addresses.

How to Remove Data Before Handing Over An Old Cell Phone

Very few recyclers offer the service of wiping devices before they pass them along, but even if they did, you'd still be handing over an extensive catalog of personal information to a perfect stranger and trusting them to do the right thing.

To take matters into your own hands:

  • Remove the SIM card from your phone. It's a little plastic memory card usually located behind the back cover underneath the battery.
  • Call your service provider and ask them to disconnect the phone from your account.

That's it! That wasn't hard, was it?

Unfortunately, if you own an iPhone or BlackBerry, it can be a little more complicated but these videos should help:

Erasing a BlackBerry



Erasing an iPhone


An Important Disclaimer

If you've got national security secrets on your phone or maybe mission briefings and data from U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's important to remember that there's no way to completely erase a handheld device. Sophisticated forensic recovery methods are capable of reversing pretty much any data-destroying trick that doesn't involve a hammer or a blowtorch, so for highly sensitive data, you should probably contact a specialist. For the rest of us though, the above methods should do the trick.

To read more about phone recycling, head on over to Earth911 blog.

February 7, 2009
9 comments
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9 Comments

Jay

Posted 8/4/2009

Tho thumbs down for the Nokia N97. With all the Modern Technology , its a pitty you can only read office documents, and need to pay for the installation if you want to write or modify them. I mean, you are paying that much for a smartphone, that isnt that smart. besides this, I love it.

jackson

Posted 7/14/2009

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martha

Posted 5/11/2009

I have lost my 8 year old son's social security card when my wallet was stolen. Do I need to be concerned about this info being sold to criminals? Will this affect his future credit?

Dave

Posted 4/17/2009

Hey Victor (Anonymous), thanks for the link to your site, but this isn't an advertising board for your business. If you have something worthwhile to contribute then people might consider going to your site, but when you offer nothing, seems kind of silly.

Anonymous

Posted 4/1/2009

I agree, very hopeful information. But if Identity Theft does however occur with this information given, visit www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/victorrogers

We guarentee peace of mind.

idtheftexpert

Posted 2/14/2009

The recent TV news regarding Google and the GPS tracking of your loved one by their cell phone number puts that person at risk. It tells us that our homes and/or businesses can be at risk when the cell number gets in the wrong hands, and a Thief is able to track us. Doesn't this open a can of worms for increased thefts? Thieves probably already know how to use the system but the GPS cell news makes us extremely Vulnerable to having our most valuable things stolen or worse. It seems Cell phone invasion by the ‘wrong person” is ID Theft. Now more than ever, we need to educate ourselves on how to protect our assets.

With cell phone number targeting, home invasion could become a very high risk. Stealing valuable document information for ID Theft along with your personal collectibles, home items etc…is an easy target they can't ignore. It has been shown that the use of 'cut and paste' to alter documents is on the increase for criminal activities. Any important document that specifies who, what and where can be altered.

While credit monitoring is great, you need more protection against ID Theft. The DVD-ID Theft: First Line of Defense will provide suggestions you should follow to help protect your home, banking, important documents and more. Visit the website at www.medicalrecordtheft.com. Now is the time for I D Theft education before more doors are opened to your life.

Anonymous

Posted 2/13/2009

In the public oath of office the polititions swear to protect and defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. These thieves of identity should be concidered domestic enemy number one and prossicuted for treason along with the politicians with out the spine to have instituted tough enoughlaws and penilties to stop this crisis. This may be a bigger part of why our economy is failing.

Dave

Posted 2/8/2009

Thanks for the kind comments!

Guest

Posted 2/8/2009

This is my first visit to this blog, and I am really impressed by all the useful info that has been captured here. It was kind of surprising to know about erasing data on cell phones - I am sure that is something everyone forgets. Thanks for writing this interesting, and in fact, eye opening article

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