John Sileo says consumers must be wary of how much valuable personal information is stored on their mobile phones. He says when upgrading to a new device, precautions must be taken before selling or giving away the old phone.
Sileo says often times removing physical memory like SIM cards or SD cards isn't enough to protect your personal data - like bank account information and passwords.
"There's so much internal memory now - particularly on these smart phones - that there is equally as much data stored within that, and it's something you can't take out of the phone," Sileo said.
He says the steps to erase a phone's internal memory varies by manufacturer and carrier, and the best way to wipe that data is to go online and get instructions the manufacturer's website.
Sileo says the only way to completely protect your personal data is to destroy the old phone and then recycle it.
For more information, visit http://www.sileo.com/.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)