Importance of data security during mobile recycling restated
Monday, May 14, 2012 - 09:20:12
Studies regularly show that consumers in the UK are being lax when it comes to data security each time they go to recycle an old mobile phone handset.
Now a new report published by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), identifies that a tenth of all used handsets can contain information that relates back to a previous owner.
This problem will only grow if consumers are not educated about the risks, as the report found that 65 per cent of all mobile users pass on a handset, either by selling it or by handing it down to a friend or family member.
The problem is not only that this might compromise your privacy on an individual level, but that malicious third parties might harvest your information for use in fraud and identity theft.
Digital security expert, Tony Neate, who is heading up the Get Safe Online initiative, said that the threats facing mobile users were no different from those standing in the way of people using a computer to go online.
Viruses and malware are not only an issue for your laptop or desktop PC, because the proliferation of mobile devices with high speed web connections has made it viable for cybercriminals to infect portable devices.
Of course it is easier for them to get at your information if you unthinkingly give it away when you recycle old mobile phones.
A number of mobile phone recycling companies are starting to offer free data deletion for anyone who sends in a used handset.
This is encouraging, since it can often be difficult to tell whether or not your private details have been fully erased from a handset which you wish to sell.
Hopefully, continued campaigning will make it possible to improve data security in the world of mobile phones.
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