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Phone Security
April 4, 2019

How To Perform a Safe Data Erasure And Sell Your Phone

When it’s time to upgrade to a new cell phone, a great way to put some money toward it is to sell your old one. Selling your cell phone can be a scary thought; we hardly let anyone handle our cell phones when they are ours, so how could you feel comfortable selling it to a complete stranger? Completely erasing your cell phone of all your data is the only way to be sure that all your old information and data has been completely removed. This doesn’t mean simply deleting everything, either - you will have to perform a full, safe data erasure.

Safe Data Erasure Before Resale

Why Should I Perform a Safe Data Erasure On My Phone Before I Sell?

For individuals selling their own phones and businesses selling used cell phones alike, performing data erasures is essential before you make the sale. But, why? Safe data erasure is the only way to ensure your own security, the privacy of your sensitive data and your identity.

Data Security

The number one reason for erasing your phone before you sell is for your own security and the security of others. So much is exchanged over our cell phones every day, and even the simplest exchange could be enough for a hacker or a shady person to go off of. Gaining your personal details or the personal details of others could lead to identity theft, compromised credit cards or much worse.

Sensitive Data

We use our cell phones to just about everything these days. This includes making purchases, booking travel, doing business over text or email and exchanging sensitive information with others. Whether the data lives in saved passwords, apps, email inboxes or text message streams, it’s important to make sure that none of it gets in the wrong hands. You never know who may be getting their hands on your cell phone next.

Where Data Hides

Simply deleting apps, text streams and clearing your SIM card does not mean that your sensitive data is wiped clean from your phone. Sensitive data can hide in just about every corner of your phone, and a factory reset safe data erasure is the only way to ensure that it is gone. Sensitive data can hide within:

Better Resale

When a phone is reset to factory settings, it is essentially as good as new. When a buyer purchases the phone and they do not have to do anything other than turn it on and make it their own, it gives the phone greater value. Trying to sell a phone filled with apps, a poor battery or tons of games could be very difficult, and you may not get as much money for it as you could otherwise.

How To Safely Erase Your Phone

If you are ready to safely erase all the sensitive data off your phone for resale, make sure you perform a factory reset. It is the only way to ensure that all the data is totally off your phone, without any way of retrieving it. Since performing a factory reset is permanent, make sure that you perform a backup of your phone. This can make setting up your new phone easier, and you will be able to save any photos, texts or other information that you might need later.

Factory Reset

Android phone via Settings

Please note that the Settings menu might be different depending on the type of Android phone you have. The steps should be similar, but the wording could vary.

  1. Find the Settings menu
  2. Find Backup And Reset
  3. Tap Factory data reset and Reset phone.
  4. You'll be prompted to enter your pass code
  5. You’ll be prompted to Erase everything
  6. Let the magic happen!
  7. Once finished, tap the option to reboot your phone
  8. Once it has rebooted, your phone is just as good as new!

iPhone

  1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC. If you can't access a computer and your device still works, don’t worry, you can still erase and restore your device without a computer.
  2. Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to your computer with the cable that came with your device.
  3. If a message asks for your device passcode or to Trust This Computer, follow the onscreen steps.
  4. Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod when it appears in iTunes.
  5. In the Summary panel, click Restore [device].
  6. Click Restore again to confirm. Then iTunes erases your device and installs the latest iOS or iPod software.
  7. After your device restores to factory settings, it restarts. Now you can set it up as new, or go ahead and sell it on to the next owner.

Safe Data Erasure Software

As a small business that buys and sells used cell phones regularly, it can be extremely time-consuming to manually perform a factory reset on each and every phone that comes through your door. This is especially true if you happen to purchase used cell phones wholesale or in large quantities.If you are looking to perform data erasures on a large volume of cell phones, a great way to do this is through a data erasure software, like PhoneCheck. Along with performing a data erasure, PhoneCheck will also check over 60 diagnostics throughout the phone. These diagnostics include:

The best part? PhoneCheck will print out a certificate in under two minutes and alert you to what may or may not need to be fixed. This way, you can either fix them or be transparent with the seller about what they are getting. This ensures a great reputation for your business and many happy customers.

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