WIth the popularity of smartphones, many unused "dumb phones" are languishing in drawers and closets. These phones can be brought back to life and used by a variety of good-cause organizations. Erase the personal information and put your old phone to a new good use.
How to Erase Data From a Cell Phone
There is more to erasing cell phone data than simply deleting contact information and removing the SIM card. While the electronic phone book does need to be purged, all call logs (in-going and out-going), voicemails, emails and text messages (sent and received), organizer folders, Web search history, photos and any other personal secure information- such as bank account and credit card numbers- also needs to be erased. Our phones have become our electronic filing cabinets and we need to clean them out before passing them on.
There's no one quick way to do this "hard reset" since each phone make and model has a different method. If you still have your phone's user manual, look for the procedure to be under words like “delete data” or “reformat device”.
No manual or no luck trying their way? Check out your wireless provider’s website or the phone manufacturer's website (type in the model name stamped onto the phone into a search engine) to see if they offer information on how to permanently delete information.
Another option is to use a free data eraser, like this one from Recellular. To use these data erasers, users typically type in the cell phone’s make and model and provide an e-mail address. Within minutes, instructions on how to erase data from that specific phone will arrive in your email inbox.
Places to Donate Old Cell Phones
Now that the personal information is gone from the old phone, find an organization where it can be put to good use. Some groups use the actual phones, while others use the funds they earn from the sale of the phones to support their program needs. Check out some of these options:
- Cell Phones for Soldiers offers cost free ways for troops to communicate with family while serving in the U.S. military.
- National Coalition for Domestic Violence uses the money made from cell phone donation to support programming that stops violence in the home.
- Electronics for Cash allows anyone to appraise the value of their phone (MP3 players, GPS devices, gaming devices, cameras and computers can also be appraised) and then donate the money directly to a charity such as the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Shipping is free and customers can choose to receive the money directly as cash.
- 911 Cell Phone Bank uses donated cell phones to assist law enforcement and victim service centers.
- Many cell phone stores, such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, will also accept old phones and then donate them to a charity.
Unwanted cell phones should never live out their days in a landfill. Follow the steps to remove personal information from an old phone and then drop it off or send it to a group in need.
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