Smartphone users keep old ones

A survey on choices made by consumers regarding their decision about what to do with their old smartphones after purchasing a new one has revealed that 71 percent would rather keep their old phones because of concerns about privacy. The survey was conducted by Al-Eqtisadiah business daily. Twenty-six percent of 323 participants said they would delete all their data from the phone and sell it. Three percent said they would destroy their old phones. Among the 71 percent who said they would rather keep their old phone is Reem Mohammad, who owns an iPhone and a Galaxy. “I am afraid I might sell one of the phones and it may land into the hands of a professional who may try to retrieve personal data. So I keep them with me forever or I will destroy them,” she said. Wijdan has the same worry. “I am always careful to keep my mobiles. I prevent my sisters from selling them either. We never lend them to anyone. Advanced technology gave us new programs that can retrieve any erased data, contacts and pictures. This is quite scary for girls, especially with the blackmail issues that appeared lately and caused many problems for girls and their families,” she said. Experts said measures can be taken to ensure privacy even during the use of the phones. Majid Hazaa, a networks and communications specialist, said sometimes an external micro memory can be added to smartphones like the Galaxy and BlackBerry. After its installation, camera settings can be changed to save all photos to the external memory automatically. Settings do not need to be changed every time the camera is used. This means photos will never be stored in the internal memory. If users want to sell the phone, all they have to do is remove the micro memory. “Phones that don’t take a micro memory, like the iPhone, need many procedures to maintain data privacy, in case of theft, or data retrieving in case the phone is sold. The iCloud application stores all information such as photos, e-mails, and search keywords in the Safari browser, which is a wonderful service if the phone breaks down or the user wants to exchange it. But, this is not a safe way to store data, especially personal photos,” said Hazaa. Through iCloud, a user can easily upload all the photos from the phone as long as the phone allows automatic synchronization. Synchronization means making an extra copy automatically for all data when using the iCloud for the first time. Users define what should be synchronized and items should be carefully selected. If someone gained access to a private App Store account, which can also be used to access iCloud, he or she can gain access to all stored data. Many people use the same account for more than one device and for more than one person, which makes theft easy. Activating the iCloud application from the store of purchase is even more dangerous because the account will be that of the shop owner. “Many people take their phones to maintenance workshops, and tell themselves they will stay there until the phone is fixed,” said Hazaa. “They don’t know that as soon as the phone is linked to the iTunes program, an extra copy is taken automatically of all stored data, including photos.” Again, Hazaa offers a solution. “Most smartphones have a format option if a wrong code number was entered 10 times. This option is rather efficient in case of theft or loss. If someone wants to sell an iPhone, he or she should delete all his or her personal photos in the normal way. Users can delete data by using the iFile, which allows them entry to the phone files and sub files or other data, by following these directions: (/var/mobile/media/dcim). This extension allows entry to the studio and safe deletion of all photos. “However, we can’t say there is a 100 percent safe way of deleting data. Technology is advancing very fast, and programmers are working on ways to retrieve deleted data, for this will bring them a lot of financial gains. Programmers aren’t working on data retrieval to spy on people’s private files, they are working on retrieving important data which could belong to major companies or governments, but got deleted through a fault in the storage systems. This information could be worth millions and used to inflict harm upon others,” cautioned Hazaa.