Secrets in Your Cell Phone: Not So Secret?

Sept. 1, 2006 — -- Your old cell phone may be telling secrets about you -- especially if you use it for text messaging.

Experts say that one out of six cell phones sold today is a so-called "smart phone," capable of accessing the Internet and sending e-mail.

However, these souped-up phones are the most vulnerable.

Bank account numbers, sensitive corporate negotiations, and a text message conversation between a married man and his mistress are three examples of sensitive information that security company Trust Digital says it could retrieve from used smart phones purchased online.

The company unearthed enough data to fill 27,000 single-spaced pages, which would be taller than an 8-foot stack of paper.

The average American buys a new cell phone every 18 months.

Many of us sell or donate our old phones, not realizing sensitive data is still deep in the memory.

I typed a message into a smart phone and reset the phone to delete my message.

Would the experts be able to retrieve it?

Within minutes, Trust Digital's chief technology officer downloaded my phone's memory.

Then, using cheap software available on the Internet, he pulled up my secret message.

"There it is," he said. "Good Morning America rules."

It is possible to wipe your smart phone's memory clean.

On some smart phones, for example, you have to hold down three different buttons and simultaneously insert the stylus into a slot on the back.

It's supposed to be difficult, so you don't accidentally delete data that you still need.

"The bad guys look for the weakest link," said Nick Magliato, CEO of Trust Digital. "I don't believe this is the weakest link, yet, but i think it's getting closer."

As cell phones turn into minicomputers, they could become major security risks.