Mobile Phone Recovery: How Most People Lose Their Data

There is a multitude of things that can go wrong when it comes to mobile phone recovery. From lost or deleted data due to software issues, liquid damage or even accidental deletion.

Mobile phones use flash memory to store data. Flash memory is an electronic (solid-state) non-volatile computer storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed.

How most people lose their data

We have found the top 10 ways in which people lose their mobile phone data over the holiday season. Our favorites are:

• Sun damage as smartphones do not tolerate sunlight very well
• Water which goes without saying
• Theft – you can’t control sticky fingers
• Parties - Christmas parties are always fraught with hazards.
• Toilets - a recent study found that one-third of the mobile phone owners damaged their smartphones due to an unfortunate event. 20 percent of respondents reported that their device had fallen into the toilet.

How to protect yourself

We recommend setting up automatic backups of your phone to ensure your data is stored. As the age-old saying goes if your data isn’t stored on at least 3 devices it doesn’t exist. Here is how we suggest to back up your data.

3-2-1 backup

The 3-2-1 backup rule is a viable backup strategy which is practical and ensures data security for your mobile device.

Here’s an overview of how it works:

• 3 is the amount of copies you should always keep of your data.
• 2 is how many different types of media you should be using to store your data.
• 1 is the amount of backup copies you should keep offsite.

By following these simple guidelines you will always maintain a high level of data protection as prevention is always better than a cure.

Liquid damage

When it comes to liquid damaged devices: the rice is just a myth, it does not really help and the device must be taken to a data recovery professional as soon as possible. If possible, disconnect your battery immediately and do not put your phone on charge. This is one of the first mistakes customers make after attempting the rice drying myth; liquid still remains inside the phone and plugging the phone into charge will cause electrolysis that will create corrosion and shorts on the motherboard. This could possibly damage your phone further to the point in which no repair or data recovery will be possible. In essence, your device must be professionally cleaned as soon as possible.

The damage is done

Liquid damaged devices can never be totally repaired and they will fail sooner or later due to corrosion still happening inside, no matter how well you clean it. Ultimately, this means it is just a matter of time until you will lose data from a damaged device.

Our advice would be to contact a mobile phone recovery professional that works with your phone manufacturer directly, such as Ontrack. No matter what device you have, you’ll want to make sure that your chosen provider is approved by your manufacturer to carry out third party repairs and that they can give you assurances regarding your data security. By trusting service centers that are not certified by your manufacturer you run the risk that they might treat your phone incorrectly, or create more damage (because of the lack of experience).