TechBulletin

Buying a used cell phone from an internet site like Ebay or perhaps from a garage sale can get you more then you bargained for.  The new concept in cell phones, much like personal computers that are sold, is the erasing of personal information from the phone.  Well the strides that are being made in this area are falling short to say the least and some of the companies are getting the suits slapped on them for the fall out.  There is nothing more dangerous than having your personal information privy to a complete stranger and the many used cell phones that are being sold are telling all to whoever wants to hear it.

The problem is that the systems in place to erase all information off of a cell phone when it changes hands are shoddy at best.  They erase the data from normal view, like attempting to pull up a text message that was deleted, but they do not erase it for the skilled persons out there that have the right software program.  That is where the problem comes in.  Cell phones work much like a computer, with a chip that stores all the information that is saved on the phone to be recalled later.  Well the erasing of that chips sounds simple enough, normally removing it from the power source for a pre-determined amount of time.  The owner of the phone is satisfied that the information is gone forever.

The real issue is the software that is readily available on the internet for a bargain price that can recall all of the erased data without a problem.  This is shown by a company that purchased ten phones from Ebay.  They then ran the phones against the software.  Each phone was to the company on the basis that the memory had been erased.  Well the company was able to pull twenty seven thousand printed pages of information from ten phones, including bank account numbers, passwords and private corporate communications. 

The main point of the experiment was to show that phones are not being securely erased and those who are selling them to others are opening themselves up to a whole host of problems.  The thieves are able to get everything from the phone that you saved without a lot of trouble.  The best course of action is to take the phone to a cellular phone repair shop and have them erase the memory before you send the phone out.