From the course: Learning Mobile Device Security

Dispose of a device securely

From the course: Learning Mobile Device Security

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Dispose of a device securely

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- [Instructor] To support the secure life of mobile devices, you must dispose of them in a secure manner. The most secure way to dispose of your mobile device is to destroy it. Today, 25 states have electronic recycling laws. Similar legislation has been enacted by governments worldwide. When destroying a device, the goal is to destroy any residual data on the phone. By destroying the device's working memory, what was once a phone simply becomes material for recycling. You can review the recycling policies of your state here. If you want to recover residual value for your device, most direct sellers will give you credit for your old devices. Although not the most secure, trading back into the retail channel is a good way to get back some of the value you spent on the device. An even less secure option is the thriving secondary market. You can resell your device using services like Gazelle, Glyde, BuyMyTronics, eBay and Craigslist. There are, however, risks associated with selling your device into a market. Although these services play a valuable role, they are services only, and do not control the actions of the buyers or sellers. If your information is not removed from the device, you could be exposing yourself to attack, or if the buyer is not trustworthy, you could fall victim to fraud or theft. Make sure you always restore your devices back to factory settings and check any SD memory or SIM card data stored on the device before selling them into the secondary market. No matter how you choose to dispose of a device, it is important to remember that clearing data before passing it on to another party is essential to maintaining personal security. Let's take a quick look at a factory reset of Android and iOS.

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