As the festive shopping season approaches, many households across Scotland will be thinking about new phones and tablets. Fewer will be thinking about what happens to the old ones.
Yet the handset left behind can hold years of personal information, from photographs and messages to saved passwords and banking apps. Consumer advisers say that how a device is cleared before it leaves the house matters just as much as how it’s used while it’s in it.
What an old phone remembers
A phone is more than a gadget. It’s a record of daily life. Contacts, emails, location history, shopping accounts and years of photographs are all stored on it, often in places people forget to look.
Simply deleting a few apps or removing a SIM card doesn’t clear any of that, and it applies whether a handset is being handed to a relative or handed over as part of a trade in phone arrangement.mazumamobile.com/sell-my-mobile}}”. Anyone who picks up an unprotected handset could, in theory, find a surprising amount of information. That’s why the first piece of advice from those who work with second-hand devices is always the same: back up what you want to keep, then reset the phone fully.
The steps that count
Start by making sure everything you want is saved elsewhere. Photographs, notes and documents can be stored in the cloud or copied to a computer. Check that your new device has received everything before going any further.
Next, sign out of your accounts. On an iPhone, that means signing out of your Apple ID and turning off Find My iPhone. On an Android handset, it means removing your Google account and any others, such as a Samsung account. This step is often missed, and it can leave a phone locked to its previous owner, which makes it close to worthless.
Then carry out a full factory reset. On most phones, this is found in the settings menu under a heading such as Reset or Transfer. The process takes a few minutes and returns the handset to its original state.
Finally, remove the SIM card and any memory card, and give the phone a quick wipe with a soft cloth.
Weighing up the options
Once a phone has been cleared, there are several routes open. Some people pass it to a family member. Others keep it as a backup. A growing number look at moving it on and see what the market looks like for their model.
Whichever route is chosen, advisers recommend taking the time to compare. Different companies have different processes, and it’s worth reading how each one handles the data on a device after it arrives. Reputable services will say clearly what they do with a handset, and will usually ask customers to reset it before sending.
Android users and the account trap
For Android owners, there’s one further point worth knowing. Many phones from major brands are tied to a manufacturer account as well as a Google account, and both need to be removed before the device is handed over.
This is especially relevant for owners of Samsung phones, which remain among the most popular handsets in the country. Anyone considering a samsung trade in should check that their Samsung account has been removed, as well as their Google login. A device that’s still linked to an account can be rejected, delayed or returned.
Tablets and other devices
The same advice applies to tablets, smartwatches and e-readers. These are often overlooked because they sit in a drawer or on a shelf, but they can contain just as much personal data.
Games consoles, laptops and smart speakers are worth thinking about too. Each of these has a factory reset option, and each one should be used before it leaves your possession. If you’ve linked payment cards to any of them, remove those first.
Recycling when a device has reached the end
Not every old handset can be given a second life. If a phone no longer powers on, has a swollen battery or has suffered serious water damage, it should go for recycling rather than back into a drawer.
Councils across Scotland run recycling facilities where electronics can be taken, and many retailers will accept small items. Lithium batteries should never be put in household bins, as they can cause fires in collection vehicles and waste sites.
If a device has any data on it, it’s still worth resetting it first, even if it doesn’t seem to work. A phone that doesn’t switch on may still hold its memory, and some can be revived by a technician.
Scams to watch for
Anyone preparing to part with a phone should be aware of a few common tricks. Be wary of anyone offering far more than a device is worth, anyone asking for your passcode or anyone asking you to keep your accounts signed in. A genuine buyer or service will never need your password.
It’s also sensible to keep a record. Take photos of the phone before it leaves you, note the IMEI number, which can be found by dialling *#06#, and keep any receipts or confirmation emails. If anything goes wrong, those details can help to resolve it.
A little time, a lot of peace of mind
For most people, the whole process takes less than an hour. That’s a small investment when you consider what a phone contains.
With the new year in sight and gadgets on many wish lists, consumer groups say now is a good time to look through the drawers, check what’s there and decide what should happen to it. A phone that’s been properly wiped can be passed on, moved on or recycled with confidence. One that hasn’t is a risk that nobody needs.
As one repair technician put it, the best phone to hand on is the one that has been cleared as if you’d never owned it.
