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this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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Are there people out there who are not factory resetting their phones before they trade them in?
...what?
There are people out there that don't know where the settings on their phone are
There are people out there, a LOT, that don't know how to power off a phone.
Same people using "Google" as their browser... π
I wouldn't doubt that 75% or more of people don't. Back before encryption was standard on Windows laptops my ex sold her laptop on eBay and forgot to wipe it, it had a bunch of nudes on it that she sent me over the years. Instead of just assuming the person would wipe it she messaged them and told them to wipe it because she had forgotten to and asked them to please not look at the contents of the drive π€¦ββοΈπ€¦ββοΈ
Not immediately wiping a used device that hasn't already been wiped is such a hazard. If they didn't wipe it, they're probably technologically illiterate enough that it's loaded with tons of malware too.
These days it's pretty difficult to get malware on smartphones, most exploits are quickly patched by Google or Apple. "Bad actors" need to use zero-day exploits to get their malware onto devices and/or pay millions of dollars to use a tool like Pegasus onto someone's device. They're not going to waste that money on someone like you or I.
I mean, it could just be one of those apps with a fully transparent icon and no name that sends ad notifications. If a tech-illiterate person installs it, they may not realize what they did and then not know why they're getting ads or how to find and remove the app. It doesn't need to be system-breaking malware.
You mean Chrome? π€£
Itβs DBAN time!
I rescued a 2010 Macbook Pro from a recycling dropoff and the previous owner did not wipe it. They had an Excel file with all their logins in it. Bank accounts and all.
I remember my first therapist telling me that he stored all of his logins in a text document on his computer. I told him that was a horrible idea and he was like "why? π€"
Samsung's official service center refused to not wipe the phone after a screen replacement, because "procedures". Paying extra wasn't even an option! So I said "fuck them" and took my Note 9 to an independent repairman who did it at half the official price because he could separate broken glass from a working screen and replace just the former. I simply turned the phone off and trusted Samsung Secure Startup encryption before handing it over to the guy. That was the moment I thanked myself for turning on full-disk encryption.