How to Clear Personal Information Off Old Cell Phones

And Protect Yourself at the Same Time!

Since I began using a cell phone about ten years, I can't begin to tell you how many phones I've gone through. The rapid advancements in cell phone technology will easily make the cell phone you're using now obsolete in no time at all. Before you pitch- or better yet, recycle- your wireless dinosaur, you should first know how to clear personal information off old cell phones.

When you think about protecting your personal information, your concerns are probably concentrated on Internet security, as well as cleaning off the hard drives of old computers. What you may not realize is, the amount of personal information your cell phone can contain: credit card account numbers, passwords, and even private text messages. Granted, not everyone is interested in the information on your old cell phone. And, not everyone has the knowledge of electronics to retrieve the information. But, why risk having one or more of your credit card accounts run up with fraudulent charges? And, do you really want to see your personal text messages posted on the Internet?

To give you an actual example of this, I recently found a cell phone on the street. It didn't work when I hit the power button, but still, I tossed it into my purse so I could locate its owner later. I wasn't about to let it lie on the street or toss it into a trash can where a thief could get hold of it.

All it took was a wire and some flashlight batteries, and the cell phone came alive. I felt like I was invading someone's privacy as I looked through the information on the phone. But, I'm not a thief. My intentions was honest. I simply wanted to locate the owner's name and home phone number. Among all kinds of personal information, I found the contact information I needed. I called the woman and she was ecstatic to get her cell phone back, even though she had already replaced the lost phone with a new one. This is just a prime example of the personal information that people keep on their cell phones, whether they realize it or not.