How to protect your privacy when selling your phone (2024)

Follow these steps to keep your data private if your current phone needs to be replaced or if you need to sell your current phone to upgrade to a new model.

We generate approx50 million tons of e-waste per year. That is equivalent to the weight of nearly 4,500 Eiffel Towers. This number has grown due to increased consumption, shorter product life cycles and fewer repair options. Most of this electronic waste is either incinerated or dumped in a landfill.

In 2019, only 17.4% of e-waste was recycled, even though the materials could have a potential value of up to $65 billion in raw materials.

Instead of throwing your phone in the trash, you can do that toorecycle it,Sell ​​it, ofpour it. It's best for the environment, but also protect your privacy. There are several steps you can take to ensure that all your data is off the phone and inaccessible.

SE:How to recycle, trade in, donate or sell your iPhone 11(TechRepublic)

Before starting this process, backup your data by following the excellent advicefor Patrick Holland iPhone userson CNET andfor Android users by Jason Cipriani, also from CNET. Before you erase everything from your old phone, make sure you have everything you need for your new phone.

Disconnect all devices

Disconnect all Bluetooth connections from watches or headphones or other devices you connect your phone to.

Sign out of all services

For iPhone users, this includes iMessage and the App Store. You also need to sign your iPhone out of your Apple account. It is a good idea to log out of other related services such as Facebook or Twitter.

Remove login credentials from browsers

If you have saved login details in the browsers on your phone, please take a moment to delete this information as well.

Fill the phone with dummy data before encryption

This is an additional credit step that willmake it even harderfor a bad actor to do something with your data that he can dig up, likeVladimir Unterfingher wrote on the Heimdal Security blog. Create blank documents and collect a few stock photos. Put these files on Google Drive or iCloud and download them to your phone.

Deactivate your accounts

This is more true for Apple phones than Android models,as explained by Michael Nuncic on the Ontrack data recovery blog. iPhone users need to sign their phones out of iCloud and iTunes. Turn off Activation Lock and also unregister your devices from your Apple account. It's also a good idea to sign out of your Google account before resetting your phone.

Encrypt your data

It's worth the extra step to do this. If your phone falls into the wrong hands, it's not that hard to recover deleted data. If an attacker takes the time to do this, they won't find anything useful if you encrypted your data before deleting it. iPhones automatically encrypt data. Android users must do this manually, although devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later can be encrypted by default.

Erase your data with a factory reset

This step removes the references to your data. For iPhones, go to Settings, General, Reset, then select "Erase All Content". For Android phones, disable Factory Reset Protection, an extra protection that started with Android Lollipop. go to Settings, Privacy, Factory data reset, then select "Reset phone".

Remove the SIM card

The Subscriber Identity Module card stores information about you and your mobile phone, including phone numbers, text messages, billing information, and data usage. When you sell your phone, the new owner will need its own SIM card, so you don't need to leave it in your phone.

Lexy Savvides at CNET has detailed instructionson how to delete personal data from mobile device for Android, Windows and iPhone users. Following these steps will prepare your phone for recycling or sale, while keeping your data safe at the same time.

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