Cell phones have become part of our life for many of us, attached to the hip all day and next to the couch all evening, while making a trip to the bedroom to keep us company at night.  Some even have the stinky task of doing business in the bathroom while the user is doing their business sort to speak.  Cell phones are no longer just for making calls, teens across the country rack up insane amounts of text messages, sharing photos and sending funny video clips to friends.  Busy adults use them for paying bills on the go, browsing the internet and as GPS devices.

My own desire to make the move to a smart phone has me perplexed as to whether or not I really want to do it and what the benefits to me will be.  For millions of users however, doing anything but making phone calls is what their phone is for.

So what happens when you sell your old phone on eBay when you upgrade to the latest and greatest?  The goal is usually to help recoup some of the money you laid out for the new phone, right?  What if you forgot to erase those steamy text messages you had with a girlfriend, even though you are married?  Better yet, what happens if you have erased those, along with the banking information from the last bill you paid on your phone and someone recovers it with some cheap software?

The CBS News covers this very topic in Betrayed by a cell phone, a look into the seedy world of people who buy used phones just to search the content of them for something good to exploit you with.

The article covers many things, mostly about how you should reference your owner’s manual for how to wipe everything clean from your phone.  Honestly though, my owners manual is usually the first thing tossed out and I never keep things like that.  If you need help finding out how to reset your phone because you will be selling it or giving it to a friend / family member and want to strip all information from it, I suggest visiting the Howard Forums.  Those phone geeks will set you straight.

If you use your phone for business purposes and exchange sensitive email, text messages or you have a bad habit of taking explicit photos of yourself, the only real solution I would recommend would be smashing the phone when you are done with it.

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