A Mobile Factory Reset Code Won’t Cut It When It Comes To Mobile Data Erasure

You may assume that a mobile factory reset removes all personal files and settings and returns a phone to the condition it was in when first purchased. However, it is not a secure method of data erasure. In many cases, someone can still recover personal data from a phone after a factory reset.

The only way to make sure information does not fall into the wrong hands is to remove it properly. In the digital world, that is not always as simple as it sounds. Even severely fire-damaged hard drives have sometimes still contained recoverable data. A mobile factory reset code is not a secure solution for permanent data erasure.

Many people are familiar with the idea of formatting a hard drive. Formatting prepares a storage device for use and makes it possible to write new data over old data. That is an important distinction. Formatting does not permanently erase the old information by itself. For most users, that difference may not matter. However, someone with the right knowledge may still recover files from a formatted device.

A factory reset on a mobile phone works in a similar way. The device formats the storage and marks the old data so the system can overwrite it later. That is useful if someone wants to clear space, remove a bug or pass the phone on to a family member. However, it is not enough for a business handling second-hand devices. A factory reset alone does not provide a secure method of clearing personal data and can create a serious risk of data breach.

Don’t Factory Reset, MobiWIPE!

Because of these limitations, MobiCode developed a stronger method of mobile erasure. MobiWIPE is our mobile data erasure solution for businesses that refurbish pre-owned phones.

MobiWIPE carries out a deep format of the phone’s local and external storage rather than relying on a quick format approach. As a result, it removes items that a standard factory reset may leave behind. This includes account data, contacts, stored media, browsing history and email folders such as inbox, outbox and sent items.

The wipe also removes metadata logs, helping erase traces of communication that took place through the device. In addition, MobiWIPE supports both Apple and Android devices, which covers most of the used device market. It also allows multiple simultaneous connections, which helps businesses avoid PC queues and process more devices efficiently.

MobiWIPE is an ADISA-approved and GDPR-compliant mobile erasure tool. It is designed to help businesses protect pre-owned device stock against data breach.

If your business handles second-hand mobile devices, do not rely on a factory reset alone. Use MobiWIPE.