If you want to sell your phone, or if you are using a phone for work, which you have to return to your employer, then you need to securely erase it. Otherwise, any personal emails, photos, and other information can be retrieved with the right software.
Not too many people realize that they carry their lives in their pocket all the time. I am referring of course to the ubiquitous smartphone, which is all-seeing and all-knowing.
It tracks where you go, it knows your contacts, your emails, your bank account login, where you’ve been (courtesy of GPS), your health information, your photos, your browser history, chat conversations, videos….in short, the phone knows more about you than you do. This is why having a PIN on your phone is absolutely essential. You need a key to keep the door to your life locked.
But then you have a problem when you want to sell that phone. Simply disconnecting your accounts and performing a factory reset is not enough. If an identity thief and /or organized crime is determined to get a hold of old user information for criminal gain, then they can. All it takes is the right equipment and the right amount of determination and patience. So in effect, a factory reset merely gives the illusion of everything having been deleted.
Once they have your details, you are in big trouble. Expect them to use your identity to take out bank loans, apply for credit cards, passports, establish lines of credit – and then proceed to monumentally wreck your life.
So what should you do to protect yourself? The simple answer is to use a professional data wiping service which will search the smallest crooks and crannies of your iOS device and securely delete everything to the point where absolutely nothing can be recovered.
In other words, you need the nuclear option. This is otherwise known as iMyFone Umate Pro iPhone Data Eraser. This software, priced at $29.95, will scan your phone and do what needs to be done to protect you. You may blanch at having to pay, but seriously, can you honestly put a price on your identity? How much would you have to pay to sort out the mess if a criminal took your name and ran with it?
We will now show you the full potential of iMyFone Umate Pro, to demonstrate how it is worth every single cent.
Ostensibly, the software markets itself as something which can help you free up space on your phone. And on this score, it performs admirably. But it can do so much more, as you will soon see.
After installing the software and entering the activation code, plug your iOS device into your computer using its charging cable. Your iOS device will now be detected by iMyFone Umate Pro and appear on the screen.
Erasing Your Phone
If you want to sell your phone, or if you are using a phone for work, which you have to return to your employer, then you need to securely erase it. Otherwise, any personal emails, photos, and other information can be retrieved with the right software. Unless you like your privacy being invaded, then secure erasure is an absolute must.
With iMyFone Umate Pro, this process is extremely simple. Just go to the “Erase All Data” tab on the left-hand side, then click “Erase”. Please note, for the erasing process to be successful, you MUST disable the “Find my iPhone” feature.
You can do this by going into your iPhone settings and navigating to iCloud–>Find My iPhone, then toggling it off. Also note that the erasing process will take some time, so start the process and go make a cup of coffee or something. It goes without saying that while the process is going on, you cannot use the phone.
Erase Deleted Files
You may decide that a full erasing of your phone is a bit of overkill. Instead, after selectively deleting certain files, you may just want to ensure that those select files are gone forever, and unable to ever be recovered. iMyFone Umate Pro can also do this for you, without any problem whatsoever.
Go to “Erase Deleted Files” in the left-hand toolbar and then the green “Scan” button. It will then start analyzing your phone to see what can be erased. Be warned though that this scan can take a considerable amount of time. In my case, it was almost 45 minutes.
Erase Private Data
As we mentioned at the beginning, your phone knows absolutely everything about you, mostly because we allow it to find out. This can be things such as your call history, your browser history, your SMS messages, your photos….if you have reason to hide any of this from spouses, other relatives, friends, employers, then you need to make sure that it is completely unrecoverable, no matter what iPhone data recovery software is used – even ones made by iMyFone.
“Erase Private Data” will give you the option of selectively choosing which information you want to totally wreck beyond all recovery. Then you can sleep better at night, knowing that no-one will know what you are trying to hide and that your privacy is guaranteed.
Erase Private Fragments
It is the most in-depth erasure of third-party apps! Incomplete fragments of files left by third-party apps not only eat up a huge amount of space, but they also compromise your privacy. Umate Pro scans for all traces of app fragments and permanently erases them!
Erasing incomplete private fragments can find out all private traces produced by third-party apps, such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Snapchat, Kik, Line, Instagram, etc. and permanently destroy them. No need to worry about the safety of your private data then.
Freeing Up Space
As you can see from the main screen, it shows you how much space you currently have left on the phone. (Read more on What is Documents and Data on iPhone). My phone here has 9.64GB left, so not that much. So let’s see if I can free any more space. Just press the “Quick Scan” button and off it will go doing its job.
Once it has scanned your phone, it will show you the elements which can be deleted to make space.
With “Temporary Files”, clicking “clean” will immediately remove the files. With others such as “Junk Files”, “Large Files” and “Apps”, it will give you a preview of them, so you can see what is going to be nuked.
In Conclusion
Erasing private data and deleted files are something which you should make an ongoing process. If you use your iOS device on a regular basis, then you will always be making calls, taking photos, sending SMS messages….this is information which should not fall into the wrong hands. Your privacy is of the utmost importance and you should always guard it zealously. iMyFone Umate Pro will help you. It will be your guard and Centurion. Use it wisely.