Smart devices like tablets, laptops, watches, and phones store loads of sensitive data that require protection. The kind of data you might find in these devices includes passwords, credit card details, identification information, and physical addresses. This personally identifiable information shouldn't be allowed to land in the wrong hands. So, if you buy and sell used smart devices, it's best to deploy advanced data wipe software to help protect your customer's information.
Many people don't realize the risk of selling devices before completely erasing sensitive data. Although there are several ways of deleting the data, some wiping methods don't completely clear the device. Also, it's important to physically destroy any SIM cards that your customers may leave on their smartphones.
This guide talks about the importance of wiping data from devices, the best way to do it, and how data wipe software works. You'll also learn about Phonecheck's data erasure inclusive software.
Data wiping is an essential step you shouldn't take for granted when buying and selling smartphones or other devices. In the next sections, we talk about how data destruction keeps your customers' sensitive data safe from unauthorized access.
If you're into buying and selling used smart devices, you know that a lot of people don't understand the risks of selling a device without data removal from the phone memory, disk drives, flash drive, or the hard drive (HDD or SSD). On the other hand, some people are aware of the need to erase the data, but they don't do it properly. We are here to help.
Boost your phone buying and selling services by ensuring that all phones that come to your shop undergo thorough data sanitization using Phonecheck's data wiping software. The best thing about data erasure technology is that it makes the process quick and easy.
It's no secret that disk wipe software does a better job of wiping the device than a factory reset. You're sure to get it right the first time. You can rest easy knowing your customers' private information is safe from data thieves and other prying eyes. Many people use smart devices to do banking and shopping, leaving a trail of sensitive information on mobile operating systems.
As a used phone merchant, you're the last line of defense for less tech-savvy customers who may unwittingly leave confidential data on their phones or other smart devices before selling. By completely wiping the data using specialized eraser software, you make it impossible for anyone to access sensitive data from the devices. Unlike the factory reset option, data wipe software doesn't leave anything for a data thief to try and retrieve using data recovery software.
It's common for people to sell smartwatches, tablets, or smartphones at the end of their working life. But, less is known about the personal data wiping process after a trade-in.
Since smart devices store a lot of sensitive personal information, it's no brainer to consider data destruction using secure erase software. In doing so, you protect things like bank account numbers, passwords, confidential health information, and credit card details. This kind of sensitive data can’t land in the wrong hands because bad actors will exploit data to commit crimes.
The risk doesn't end with sensitive banking, login credentials, or health information. It also applies to emails, photos, text messages, and videos. Third parties who get their hands on private content may compromise privacy and safety, depending on the nature of things they find on the phone or other smart device.
Identity theft is one of the common crimes committed by people who get unauthorized access to sensitive data. Things like credit card details allow criminals to buy stuff online with the victim's hard-earned money. Some of the information found in a phone makes it easier for bad actors to hack into social media or email accounts.
When planning to wipe data from your customers' smartphones or other devices, you can use one of two options. You factory reset the devices or wipe file systems using Phonecheck's eraser software.
The following sections explain how these data erasure methods work and what you can expect.
When you perform a factory reset on an Android or iPhone, you remove the user data, and it goes back to the original settings. So, the process deletes videos, contacts, internet cache (contains website files stored by the browser), photos, and apps.
On the other hand, resetting your device to factory defaults doesn't remove the operating system or apps that came with it. The best part is that factory resets don't damage your device, irrespective of how many times you do it. Now, let's look at how the factory reset process works on Android and iPhone.
For the iPhone, proceed as follows:
Follow these steps to factory reset an Android device.
Note that the exact steps may differ slightly depending on the device manufacturer or Android version.
It's important to remember that the factory reset clears addresses to your data but doesn't completely remove all your information. Personal data is still there on your phone; it's just that the Android system can't see it anymore since the addresses or indexes are gone. On top of that, there's no way the system can overwrite it to create free space.
What's problematic about this data is that a bad actor can retrieve it using data recovery software.
Erasing sensitive data using data wipe software before selling it is undoubtedly the best way to ensure that the buyer receives a phone with no user data. This software uses algorithms to ensure that sensitive information is 100% unrecoverable. Even the best data recovery software can't get back the data.
Here's how you erase data from a phone using the software.
Note that the process may vary depending on the type of data wipe tool you use.
Erase data from iPhone using the software.
Wipe personal data from an Android phone using the software.
Here's a list of the features you should look for in a paid or open-source freeware data eraser.
Like a hard drive wipe software, a mobile device data eraser can completely remove the content in file systems. It deletes the content index (or address) and the personal data before overwriting the system multiple times. For instance, Phonecheck's secure data eraser creates a brand new encrypted file system over the old one. As a result, the smartphone's storage devices (disk space) no longer host sensitive information, ensuring certified data wipe results before you resell the device.
The encryption process involves writing random digits multiple times over the existing personal data. This approach makes sure that the information is unrecoverable. So, it becomes impossible for anyone to restore or retrieve sensitive data like browsing history, contacts, photos, and other content types. You can count on the software to also clear junk files.
Unlike the factory reset method, data eraser software doesn't leave any traces of user data. It does such a good job that if it were a computer hard drive erasure, the software would completely remove data from an entire drive (solid state or bootable). So, it's as if you've just run your mobile device through a hard disk shredding machine that destroys random data or hard drive data.
With features like cryptographic and DOD3 level wipe process, Phonecheck is undoubtedly a premium data eraser tool with additional functionality. The software makes it easier to maximize trust between a smart device seller and buyer. It also helps enhance the quality of your used phone retail services.
You can count on the reliability of this software because it has undergone thorough testing. It has a solid track record in data sanitization of Androids and iPhones. Phonecheck comes with basic and advanced features (like a hard drive eraser) to make your job easier.
Let's take a closer look at Phonecheck's data wipe software features.
Having a tool that you can rely on to wipe phone data is super-important for your used phone retail business. Phonecheck's NIST 800 88 compliant data eraser software isn't just accurate, but it's also a secure and fast way to process many devices at the same time. You get third-party certified erasures to ensure that you get the job done right every time.
Get a Phonecheck Certified History Report before purchasing a used device. To enhance the reliability and ease of data wipes, check out Phonecheck today.
