Experts Say Discarded Cell Phones Could Contain Loads Of Sensitive Information
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- You may want to think twice before tossing your old smartphone. Just because you deleted information, your old data may not be gone forever.
CBS2's Emily Smith has more on what one security found when they put phones to the test.
Holding your smartphone may increasingly be a bit like holding your life in your hands. A leading phone receiver said 130-million devices are discarded every year, some are still loaded with personal information.
"If you delete things from your phone they aren't necessarily gone forever," Christian Hicks, President Elysium Digital, explained.
Hicks and Jason Eaddy from Elysium brought dozens of old phones online and found many had not been properly wiped.
"We recovered photos, contact information, calendar entries, emails, text messages, financial information, passwords," Christian explained.
With a special computer they can pull up data, even information that was deleted off a discarded phone.
"This column shows you these things had all been deleted off this phone, as far as this person was concerned this was all deleted," Eaddy, Forensic & Discovery Head, Elisium Digital, said.
Newer versions of the iPhone and the latest android devices thoroughly delete information, but hicks said older models may not, which is why he'll never throw away a smartphone.
"I keep them in a safe place. Yeah, I keep my old phones in a safe place," Hicks said.
Unlike the ones that he bought online that were full of data for anyone to find.
Experts also recommend following all directions to completely erase data from your phone.
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