4+ Essential Data Protection Steps to Take Before You Sell Your Phone

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What to do before selling your phone

Still thinking about buying a new phone? Well, trading your old one (and probably some extra cash) for a spanking-new smartphone would be the most sensible thing to do. However, there’s still the issue of actually making sure that the buyer can’t access your personal data. Sure, you will argue that wiping the phone’s storages would put an end to this debate.

As it happens, data can be extracted from a device even if the owner deleted everything by hand. So, are there any workarounds? There are, but it takes more than a simple memory wipe to ensure that the data’s totally safe.

Still willing to go through with this? Awesome! Here’s are a couple of data protections you should consider taking if you plan on selling your phone anytime soon.

1. Backup, backup, and even more backup

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of backup. Doesn’t matter if want to sell your phone or use the computer for other purposes than entertainment; you still need a copy of your data in case something goes wrong.

FOR IPHONE

So, the first step you will need to take would be to back up everything on your phone. If you’re the proud owner of an iPhone, you can take advantage of the iCloud feature and back up everything to the cloud.

You can also plug it in your Mac and save a local copy just to be extra safe. Don’t know your way around the iCloud back up feature? Chill, fam! I got you covered. Just tap on Settings, choose the Storage & Backup option from the menu, and then head to iCloud Backup.

Bear in mind that you will need an iCloud account to store data on the cloud. When you’re ready, tap on the Back Up Now button and that’s it. Your phone will then copy your data on the cloud. Sit back and relax because this is going to take a while.

FOR ANDROID

Paging Android smartphone owners! Yeah, I know that not having the luxury of an in-built Cloud backup solution can be frustrating, but where a USB cable, there’s always away. As I was saying, the best and fastest way to back up the stuff on your Android smartphone would be to connect it via USB and copy every byte of data on your computer.

It may not be pretty, but it works. Sure, you can also try your luck with third-party Cloud backup software for Android like G Cloud Backup, MyBackUp Pro, Titanium Backup, Migrate, or Resilio Sync. You should do this preferably before wiping the internal and external storages. Just saying. No pressure.

2. Get rid of the SIM and any attached SD cards.

Doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone or Android smartphone; that SIM card must go away before reaching its new owner. As you probably know by now, SIM cards are used to store contact info, like phone numbers, email addresses, and names. You really wouldn’t want that kind of info to fall into the wrong hands, do you now?

So, before trading in your phone, make sure you yank the SIM card out of its slot. Newer smartphones have special trays, which facilitate access to both components.

If your phone doesn’t have a device tray, you’ll need to remove the back cover and probably the battery as well to gain access to the SIM\SD slots. You should refer to the phone’s manual for detailed instructions on how to safely remove the SIM and SDs.
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