Most sellers delete all of their personal data prior to selling their used devices… or so they think. A security company purchased 20 used Android phones off eBay and used simple and easily available recovery software to restore deleted files. The amount of data they were able to retrieve was astonishing and proves that simply deleting is not enough.
* More than 40,000 stored photos
* More than 1,500 family photos of children
* More than 750 photos of women in various stages of undress
* More than 250 selfies of what appear to be the previous owner’s manhood
* More than 1,000 Google searches
* More than 750 emails and text messages
* More than 250 contact names and email addresses
* Four previous owners’ identities
* One completed loan application
"Stalkers, enemies, and thieves can abuse personal data to stalk, blackmail and steal people’s identities. They can use this information to watch people’s every move, exploit their strange fetishes, open credit cards in their name, or even continue what they started by further selling their personal information online."
Whats the best way to ensure none of your files can be recovered if you're selling your Android device?
* Turn on Encryption.
* Factory reset the device.
* Wipe the storage, then fill it up with something innocent like pitcures of fluffy kittens or Cthulhu. This overwrites the storage where your files were.
* Factory reset and wipe the storage again, and fill it up again with something else innocent. Do this 2 or 3 times.
Your info and files is now not only buried beneath dummy data, but its also all been encrypted as well.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/09/boffins_slapped_by_one_thousand_wobbly_bits_after_wiped_phon...
