Americans Junk Millions of Used Cellphones

cell phone recycling is potentially too risky

Quite frankly, I don't have a problem with people throwing away their cell phones. How many cell phones does it take to equal the landfill space of an old water heater or refrigerator? And the batteries used in modern handsets are no larger or more toxic than a typical AA or AAA battery for an I-pod or CD player. Charities and companies that offer to buy them back have hidden fees and base their rates on unrealistic scenarios. In the end you'd be lucky to get 5 bucks. But what no one seems to think about is their personal information. How many calendar events, birthdays, names and their associated numbers does an average person have on their phone these days? This information remains in phones that don't use removable sim cards, and also in many phones that do. When is the last time you checked to see if a charity or buy back company had an accredited memory erasing program, or that it even bothered? You would never give away your personal hard drive without wiping it permanently. You wouldn't throw out bank statements without shredding them. So why would you hand over your personal communication device to a perfect stranger? Use common sense... take a hammer to the screen and keypad sections to render any info irretrievable and toss the mess in the garbage. Any environmental sense of well being you might get from recycling isn't worth the financial jeopardy and lost sleep that accompanies identity theft.

Rodney of GA @ Sep 14, 2008 18:24:03 PM