Mazuma promises to delete data from recycled mobile phones
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 16:22:10
Phone recycling firm, Mazuma Mobile, has committed to a new initiative which will allow it to safely and securely remove any personal information which is still found on the handsets sent in by customers from across the UK.
Mazuma will be joining forces with BlackBelt Smartphone Defence, a mobile security company which has the expertise and facilities to permanently delete any erroneously available data which is still stored on phones which are intended to be recycled.
Mazuma chief executive, Charlo Carabott, explained that the company had launched a data deletion software tool five years ago, but said that in the modern age, there is a far greater dependence on smartphones amongst the general public. This makes it tougher to completely remove every trace of information left by a previous user before a phone is recycled, necessitating a tougher stance from firms like Mazuma.
When you sell your mobile phone online it will occasionally be scrapped and sold for parts. However, in many cases, the handset will simply be refurbished and sold on elsewhere, either domestically or overseas.
Should there be any residual data remaining from a previous user, then it could be easy for the new owner to access this. This could lead to identity theft or other issues further down the line and it can be difficult to tell whether or not you have wiped a phone clean before you send it to be recycled.
If the recycling firms are able to take a lead in this area, as Mazuma has demonstrated, then UK consumers will be able to sell their old phones with a greater degree of confidence that data will not fall into the wrong hands further down the line. This should also improve the uptake of mobile recycling schemes.
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