Love Your Identity: Don’t Recycle It!
by Sarah on February 13th, 2009
Did you know that 7% of all mobile phone contain enough personal data to facilitate identity theft (according to a British Telecom study)? This statistic will most likely increase as more people conduct banking and purchasing activities on mobile devices. Additionally, with new device models, features, and services plans launching all the time, mobile phones have a short lifespan. That is why, when it is time to purchase a new cell phone, you should recycle your device. Not only is it environmentally important; doing it the right way will prevent identity theft.
In a 1.2 billion global mobile phone market, 60% of all purchases replace existing cell phones – only 1% of which are recycled. However, 99% of recycled cell phones contain personal data, including, potentially, bank account information (according to a recent Regeneris study). For Americans, whose average 18 month cell phone lifespan equates to 130 million replaced cell phones and 65,000 tons of waste, this research means that we have a big opportunity to reduce waste – but we need to protect identities in the process.
For those who (hopefully) opt to recycle their mobile phones, it is important to take more than just one step to ensure that your personal information is completely wiped from those devices. Wiping a cell is not like wiping your hard drive. For commercial reasons, mobile phones do not have the open architecture that PCs do.
That means that even if the DIY among us delete everything in their phones, this only deletes references to where the data is located and not the actual information (which is stored elsewhere). I do not know about you, but even though I love recycling, I would rather not risk recycling my identity. That is why I recommend performing any, if not all, of the following tactics, before you recycle your phone:
• Do not store any personal information on your mobile phone which you would not want a stranger to see.
• See your cell phone manual or wireless provider’s website for specific information on permanent information deletion
• Remove your SIM and memory cards prior to donating your cell phone
• Verify that the mobile phone recycling organization erases data
• Use the data erasing software programs
You can protect all of your personal information and the environment. For more information on how to recycle your cell phone, we found this article to be helpful:
http://www.voip-news.com/feature/50-ways-leave-cellphone-011608/
Tags: community development, environmental sustainability, green banking, identity theft protection, recycling tactics, ShoreBank, triple bottom line
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