If you're thinking about upgrading to Apple's new iPhone 5 when it debuts in a few weeks, you're going to have to figure out what to do with your current device. Given how much we've come to rely on these gadgets for storing pictures, contacts and personal information, some serious privacy issues should be considered before selling, recycling or trading in your old phone.
Typically, you restore factory settings on your smart phone before parting ways. But a couple of recent articles on NBCNews.com and Yahoo.com find that factory resets are inconsistent, depending on the phone.
Blackberry and Apple resets appear to delete and scrub personal data the best, according to data retrieval experiments described in the articles. But Android and Microsoft smart phones weren't as good at wiping important information.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
In the Yahoo article computer analyst Steve Burgess recommends that, in addition to the factory reset, you should remove a phone's memory and SIM cards before turning it in. Robert Siciliano's advice in the NBCNews.com story was a bit more severe. He recommends a drill, a sledgehammer and bucket of salt water.
—Larry Greenemeier
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
