Old Phone Recycling: Privacy Cannot Be Sold With Old Mobile Phones

What is the problem with mobile phones? This has always been a difficult problem to solve. When you want to sell, you are worried about privacy and safety after you sell them. You want to sell them to regular recycling companies, but you don’t know which ones are regular businesses.

On April 3rd, the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission announced the first batch of 13 pilot units for the construction of new recycling systems for waste electrical and electronic products. Many of these enterprises have the business of recycling mobile phones. Through these enterprises, citizens can replace mobile phones with newer ones. Such electronic products can be sold with confidence. After the first batch of announcements were made, is it safe and convenient for these companies to sell discarded mobile phones? The reporter conducted an investigation.

A bunch of old mobile phones are under pressure at the end of the box

If we say that in the 1990s the 'Big Brother' mobile phone was owned by only a handful of people, after entering the new century, the mobile phone has already had one, or even several, mobile phones. Since the popularity of smartphones, mobile phone users have been replacing in the past more than a decade. The frequency of new machines is getting higher and higher.

Xiao Zhang, who lives outside Guang'anmen, recently took advantage of the opportunity of home renovation to completely clean up the room. From the big box under the bed, he found all the phones he had used. From the earliest Nokia candy bar phone, In 2003, Samsung flipped a color screen mobile phone, then went to a slider phone in 2007, and later to 3G, 4G mobile phones. Since the advent of smart phones, Xiao Zhang’s mobile phone frequency has become higher and higher, HTC, Sony, Apple, Samsung, He Almost all used.

Every cell phone is a piece of memory. Xiao Zhang is an attentive person. Every old cell phone is packed in a transparent plastic bag. This time, he finds out, gets charged, and many cell phones can still be turned on. SMS, old phone numbers that old friends have not used.

He didn’t sell old phones, but he didn’t want to sell them. “When the new phone was replaced, the old phone was actually worth the money. 'Xiao Zhang said, Every time he went to the mobile phone store to buy a new mobile phone, the cattle at the door asked him ' Old mobile phones can't be sold', text messages, and WeChat records can all be stored online. You don't need to leave your mobile phone to leave text messages as you used to, but Xiao Zhang still hasn't sold it. He feels insecure. 'Will you sell? Afterwards, like those Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities repairing computers, personal privacy has been copied and put on the Internet to make people laugh.'

There is a large supermarket near Xiao Zhang. Next to the shelf of toiletries, TV commercials are constantly playing 'sell, sell, and sell mobile phones, and find love for recycling'. Love Recovery is a company that recycles mobile phones online. Every time you visit the supermarket, Xiao Zhang was almost brainwashed by this advertising tone. When he got home, he still had the ad words in his head. He could almost sing along with the melody. He also moved his mind: 'Or on the Internet, sell the old phone.'

'New to old' mobile phone recycling new ways

The recycling of old mobile phones involves both privacy and environmental protection issues. The well-known smart phone maker, Apple, publishes an annual English-language environmental responsibility report. In the 2017 annual report, Apple mentioned that every 100,000 Apple iPhones Mobile phones, are likely to recover 1900 kg of aluminum, 800 kg of copper, 0.3 kg of gold, 7 kg of silver, 55 kg of tin and other materials.

Apple offers trade-in businesses, but the discount on old phones is limited to the purchase of new Apple phones at Apple stores. Similarly, Xiaomi is also the model. Among the 13 recycling companies announced by the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Xiaomi is included. .

According to the publicity recovery procedure, the reporter logged in to Xiaomi's official website and there was a page for 'renewal'. After clicking to enter, it was possible to value the discarded mobile phones, tablets, and laptops. The reporter clicked to select an Apple iPhone 6 mobile phone. For 16G, the channel is for mainland China. After filling out the appearance of the equipment, the estimated recycling price is 635 yuan. Tablet PCs, notebook computers are also similar to the recovery, according to the model, usage and other valuations.

The estimated payment method is 'renew voucher', which means that you can use this voucher to purchase Xiaomi’s mobile phones, tablet PCs, notebook computers, etc. You cannot purchase other branded products, nor can you exchange cash.

More recycling companies offer old phones to sell cash directly instead of buying new machines. The previously mentioned “Love Recycling” company advertising in supermarkets, the reporter logged in on its official website, The price of the same iPhone 6 mobile phone found in the same paragraph, the price is also 635 yuan, but you can pay cash directly.

Formal recycling will not reveal privacy

For many consumers, how much money an old mobile phone can sell is not the most important thing. Is it safe to sell it? It is the most important. According to the announcement of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the city’s Development and Reform Commission and the Municipal City Management Commission in 2017 The Municipal Commission of Commerce and the Municipal Economic and Credit Commission initiated the pilot construction of a new recycling system for discarded electrical and electronic products in the city, and also initiated the collection of waste electronic product recovery pilots for the society. The 13 pilots announced this time are among those that have certain representativeness.

For 13 pilot companies, the reporter contacted and inquired one by one, some of which did not have a mobile phone recycling business. For example, Gree Electric Appliance Stores only used old air conditioners for the trade-in and replacement business, and did not involve mobile phones. The 'green hut' in Jinsong Street, Chaoyang District was Disposal of used clothes, newspapers, etc., and no recycling of electronic products.

Among the 13 companies, some companies that can recycle mobile phones told reporters that after the list of Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission was announced, the number of users who telephoned and consulted increased significantly. Although the amount of recycling has not significantly increased, it will increase in the coming weeks. Businesses say that in the past year, the number of mobile phones recovered has increased month by month.

The reporter telephoned the company's 'Easy Repurchase' company in 13 companies. This is a company from Shenzhen. The staff member told the reporter that the user can log on to the website or mobile client to estimate the price of the mobile phone to be sold online. Mode, similar to other network recycling methods.

After the estimate is successful, the user sends the mobile phone to the company via courier, and the courier fee is paid by the company. On the same day or the next day after the mobile phone is received, the company will confirm the model and product phase of the mobile phone. As long as the mobile phone's condition and network estimate In the same way, the company will immediately pay the user via WeChat.

For security issues, the staff stated that it is recommended that users only use the system's own factory reset function before sending out the mobile phone, so that the personal privacy information in the mobile phone can be completely cleared. After receiving the mobile phone, the company's technical department will also Again through technical means, to ensure the complete removal of personal information in mobile phones.

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