There comes a point in the life of every consumer when you have just had it with your phone and you have gathered up enough to buy a new smartphone which meets your needs, now this may be caused by say the fact the battery life just isn’t enough, or perhaps you want the latest software or a better camera and so you go ahead and change your device and well for that to happen, you have to let go of the old device. 

So what to do If that happens? Maybe you want to sell it to someone who is willing to buy it from you but say you do agree to sell it off, what about the photos and personal data? Is it enough to just delete these personal pictures from the phone? How permanently delete the data of your previous smartphone device. Well according to StarOnline, apparently not. The justification in that regard is that, when you delete something it is not actually removed. The memory it took up is merely marked as free and the deleted data can without a doubt be easily restored, says Miriam Ruhenstroth, editor-in-chief of the mobile phone security website Mobile Sicher.de.

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Now then the problem is there but what about the solution? Well we got your back but we would at this point urge readers to back up there date before going through with the “How to permanently delete the data” plan. You may do this by  transferring the data to the newly acquired device or in a USB or external device, whatever does the job for you. So the first thing you need to do is to remove your own user account first. Android users can do this under the “Accounts” section in the device’s settings, while if you’re an iPhone user then you will first need to unlink all linked devices. If the “Find my iPhone” (up to iOS 12) or “Where is” (from iOS 13) is turned on, you will need to deactivate it in the iCloud settings, as said by Patrick Bellmer an IT expert, once you go through with that you can safely log out of your Apple ID.

Furthermore by resetting the phone to factory setting, all personal data and settings are removed from the device and only the operating system in the device shall remain be it an android or iOS. Now comes the part for your peace of mind, in order to be assured that your data can by no means be recovered you will still be required to overwrite that data. There are apps that will do this, but Ruhenstroth considers them to be unnecessary. Instead you can overwrite the memory with irrelevant data. For example, you can record video until the memory is full and then reset the phone again. Security experts strongly recommend you take this extra step if you have an older smartphone.

If the smartphone has a memory card, you’ll also want to remove that, Ruhenstroth says. Once you have gone through this particular set of steps we believe that you are good to go and you have deserved your peace of mind when thinking about the risks of data misuse. You can now sell of your previous device with a clear head and no sense of fear. 

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