[Must Watch] Smartphone Secrets

I know there has been a deluge of information coming out about NSA spying, and the countless threads that followed, but I feel I should share this video regarding YOU and your smartphone.

So what have you done with your old smartphone? Did you toss it? Recycle it? Sell it? Well, this video demonstrates how easy it is to extract data from the phone that you believe you deleted. In the video they interview a man who does work for the FBI by data mining smartphones. He shows how he can basically re-trace everything you ever did on your smartphone. Pretty scary revelations going on right now, and I feel that people should know what to do with their old smartphones.

Anybody with any kind of data mining experience could pretty much pry into your entire life with a few clicks. I'd be interested to hear from people who use their smartphones beyond just making calls and playing angry birds. I stumbled on the video because I was trying to find out what else I could use my old phone for since it's deactivated.

This video makes me curious as to who exactly owns the companies like Gazelle.com and such. It also makes me wonder what kind of database the sold info they compile all the info into.

"Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" - Kurt Cobain

Originally posted by Mnemicrsl
This video makes me curious as to who exactly owns the companies like Gazelle.com and such. It also makes me wonder what kind of database the sold info they compile all the info into.

"Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you" - Kurt Cobain

edit on 30-6-2013 by Mnemicrsl because: (no reason given)

edit on 30-6-2013 by Mnemicrsl because: (no reason given)

It's very plausible that these phone recycling organizations could collaborate with the government, I mean with all this other stuff coming out, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility... at this point, we can assume any company/organization that handles private data is most likely selling it, or willingly giving it up.

Sadly, I think people have become comfortable with the spy grid, and really don't care.. which is what I fear, because I DO care about privacy... you know since it's a right and all.

If it's Android based, you could learn how to root it. Throw on a custom ROM, and you have a perfectly usable device as long as you are in Wi-Fi range. There are so many different ROMS out there to try.

In the process, you'll learn how to wipe dalvik-cache and do low level formatting. It's pretty much the same on every Android. Then you can tell people you know how to wipe their phones clean before they recycle them.

Given the average usage life of most mobile devices is just under two years, you'd be doing a great community service.

Originally posted by Druid42
If it's Android based, you could learn how to root it. Throw on a custom ROM, and you have a perfectly usable device as long as you are in Wi-Fi range. There are so many different ROMS out there to try.

In the process, you'll learn how to wipe dalvik-cache and do low level formatting. It's pretty much the same on every Android. Then you can tell people you know how to wipe their phones clean before they recycle them.

Given the average usage life of most mobile devices is just under two years, you'd be doing a great community service.

Good insight, it seems like a little bit better thing to do than bash it with a sledge hammer I will look into different ROMs and such, I have an HTC EVO 4g, still a good phone but I couldn't transfer it to the new carrier, so now I have a piece of useful technology not doing anything, when I get time I do want to explore it's potential.

I load up my smartphone with addresses of a bunch of famous people and movers and shakers just because I can. Then if someone finds into it, they'll think I'm awesome. If they haven't already picked up gossip from a military.

No really, I gave up even thinking of writing my most private memoirs and secrets of antigravity and semiconductors using my phone after my neighbors moved out and some military undercover group moved in. After the last time at the old house with the hidden microphone, and the SSSS projection gun that goes through walls, and being chased about for God knows what, probably posting truth on a conspiracy website, I figured it's relatively easy for a hacker to want my phone. Last time it was some sort of tap onto my Internet connection. Have you heard about those programs where the hacker kids call their victims slaves? Big problem.

Now the FBI does it, it's sort of like, glad they caught up with how it's done. Too bad they don't know not to mess with the USB ports on an encrypted apple computer. It's like trying to explain a new computer to your grandma, where is the any key?

It's not what they get, but what they do with it that matters. Not like I'm typing in Voynich manuscript language. Just Dvorak.

I hate to be the one to say it, but there's a lot of useful things from this kind of thing as well. If you are in business and your screen is broken, you are able to recover your data (which in some cases is worth $$$) so... Not everything about it is nefarious.

As far as an organized effort to steal everyone's data, it would be useless as it all becomes noise. There's no reason to have so much non-essential data stored on every individual.

Although, I could see how identity thieves could use this the wrong way. People do need to be very vigilant in that respect.

Careful of people that call you saying they are creditors, etc. Because identity thieves can get your info the old fashion way too, simply by tricking you.

Originally posted by boncho
I hate to be the one to say it, but there's a lot of useful things from this kind of thing as well. If you are in business and your screen is broken, you are able to recover your data (which in some cases is worth $$$) so... Not everything about it is nefarious.

As far as an organized effort to steal everyone's data, it would be useless as it all becomes noise. There's no reason to have so much non-essential data stored on every individual.

Although, I could see how identity thieves could use this the wrong way. People do need to be very vigilant in that respect.

Careful of people that call you saying they are creditors, etc. Because identity thieves can get your info the old fashion way too, simply by tricking you.

Good point, I agree that data recovery is a very important tool in today's day and age, and of course it's not all nefarious. What I tend to worry about is the nefarious applications of this technology, and this video definitely gave an informative lesson.

As far as identity theft, with the advent of technology, it has made it easier for the thieves.

reply to post by Druid42


Not even that hard with IPhones. I have old IPhone 3's and 4's around which have been deactivated and they all use run on wifi perfectly. It's just like having a laptop, that doesn't need to have activation. We keep them in all the vehicles and at the camp with games and music on them for the kids and use them at publicly accessable wifi spots for untraceable Internet activities.

reply to post by Druid42


When I cancelled my service with Verizon last year and went with a plain jane prepaid phone I rooted my Droid X2. Now I use it as an MP3 player for when I'm working here around the house and use it to use the net when I'm out camping or sky watching here on the farm with my wifi from the home router. I have a wifi booster that I purchased from C Crane that will boost the wifi from the house to up to 1 mile, that way I can be out in the back field at night looking at the stars and such and still get wifi to listen to internet radio and such.


I do wonder if the sudden rise of services such as Gazelle and the other phone buy back programs aren't actually a government front to mine even more info on the public. I would suggest that anyone that wants to sell their phone should root it if possible and wipe it clean.

thats why i keep them in my house

the safest place in the world





and no , i will never run over them with my car because i like to keep old things

reply to post by eXia7


The Flash RAM chips used in smartphones are easy to remove and read.

They are potted in plastic and would probably survive being struck with a hammer and run over by a car. That only really breaks the screen and the case.

Additionally, the memory inside them is organized into banks. When one bank fails, it is marked as unusable and its data can no longer be modified (or even erased, which is a type of data modification). It is still there to be read, if you know what you are doing.

Not much point smashing then, the chips can still be read, they need to be burnt to a crisp, its the only way to be safe.

And I'm surprised more people didn't know all this was possible.

Also, your service provider will have a copy of just about everything you ever did.

That's why I don't have a smart phone.

Originally posted by Dr UAE
thats why i keep them in my house

the safest place in the world

and no , i will never run over them with my car because i like to keep old things

That's quite the assortment of technology there, i'm sure the NSA would be grinning ear to ear to get those. Geez, is that one a phone or a sega handheld video game?

And people worry about being micro-chipped in the future.
We wont even need to be micro-chipped.

Originally posted by SpaceMonkeys
And people worry about being micro-chipped in the future.
We wont even need to be micro-chipped.

That's pretty true. Why would the government pay extra money to furnish spy equipment when people willingly purchase it themselves.

I'm lookin at you Xbox One / Kinect

reply to post by eXia7

I have an HTC EVO 4g, still a good phone but I couldn't transfer it to the new carrier, so now I have a piece of useful technology not doing anything, when I get time I do want to explore it's potential.

Yep, that EVO is an awesome device. I took mine up to ICS, (Android 4.0.4) and modded quite a few ROMS for it. The 8MP camera itself is worth keeping it around. A good place to start is xda-developers, and search for EVO 4g. Literally hundreds of ROMS to choose from. Sadly enough, HTC has obsoleted it. It makes a perfect starter device to play around with.

reply to post by yamammasamonkey

with games and music on them for the kids and use them at publicly accessable wifi spots for untraceable Internet activities.

Yep, perfect way to use "old" technology. They still function as a MP3 player, and a gaming device for the kiddos. They STILL take photos. (Hey, if you are ever camping, and see a UFO, you'll have no reason NOT to get at least one pic!)

reply to post by Nucleardiver

Now I use it as an MP3 player for when I'm working here around the house and use it to use the net when I'm out camping or sky watching here on the farm with my wifi from the home router.

A lot of the older devices have 4-8gb storage on a SD card. That's a few thousand songs, plenty enough for a day's worth of yard work on shuffle with no repeats. Add earbuds, and you are good to go.

The Google Sky app is simply awesome for sky watching, and learning the constellations, and I've used mine to point my telescope. (An old Iphone has a similar app.) More than once I've seen an unusually bright star, and want to know what it is. A quick point, and voila, the app tells me what it is. Aptly enough, I've checked out said "anomalies", and then read a thread here after about a "strange" light in the sky. While taking away the mystery of "shining" or "blinking" lights in the sky, they do work perfectly as a star chart, and I even quit using my old "sky wheel" because of it. An old smartphone is a perfect device for someone interested in learning about Astronomy.

Pretty much everyone has a Wi-Fi Router, and to sit on the back porch for an evening of sky gazing using an "old" phone, is quite an educational experience.

reply to post by Dr UAE

thats why i keep them in my house
the safest place in the world

I'm sure you haven't been fallowing the news, heck just see ATS top stories and you would change your mind on that idea ... The safest place in the world is your mind... for the moment... they are working on that also ...

This is hardly a secret... the exact same thing happens with PC's. When you move a file to the trash bin and then empty the trash bin the file doesn't actually get deleted from your HDD, the operating system just frees up the space used by that file so that other data can be written on top of it. Until data is actually written over the old data, it's extremely easy to recover that old data. That's why a good erasing tool will write random data over the top of the old data, with several passes to be safe.

I have a friend that trades smartphones on Craigslist. A lot of times he makes money that way. They trade phones and throw in some cash. Anyways he always sets it back to factory defaults when trading. I know his info is in the "cloud" but I often wondered if resetting it was enough. I've retrieved data off of old hard drives that have been reformatted. I wondered if the same was possible with the phones. My knowledge is limited when dealing with a lot of the new gadgetry. It's just way to hard to stay current with all hardware and software advancements. Specially when I'm preoccupied with conspiracies.