How to wipe health data before selling your old phone

You've got a new phone, and you're thinking of selling the old one, trading it in or passing it on to someone close to you. That phone holds more than photos: it may also hold your medication reminders, period logs, photos of test results and notes from your doctor. In this article we walk you through a simple order for first taking your health information with you safely and then erasing it completely from the old phone.

Why does health data need extra care?

Health information is among the most personal information on your phone. The medicines you take, your cycle logs or the date of a check-up can say a lot about you if they end up with the wrong person.

What's more, this information doesn't sit in just one place. Before you erase anything, take a quick look at these places on your phone; it makes it easier to see what you need to take with you:

• Health and tracking apps: Records in medication, cycle, journal or fitness apps.
• Photo gallery: Photos and screenshots of prescriptions, medicine boxes, reports or test results.
• Messages and email: Files from your doctor, hospital or lab, and downloaded attachments.
• Notes and calendar: Symptom notes, medication lists, appointment records.
• Browser: Sessions left open on health portals and saved logins.

The NCSC, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, stresses that deleting files one by one isn't enough and that you should use the phone's own erase or factory reset feature. So the real job is resetting the phone in the right order before you sell it. That order has three steps: back up, sign out, erase completely.

Step 1: Back up and take it with you before erasing

Erasing can't be undone. So the first job is making sure a copy of everything you want to keep is on your new phone or somewhere you trust. Apple also lists making a backup and transferring your information to the new device as the first steps before you hand a device over.

• Health apps: Check how each app you use backs up its records and how it moves them to a new phone. Some apps keep records only on the phone; moving them may take an extra step.
• Photos and documents: Set aside photos of prescriptions, reports or test results and transfer them to the new device.
• Notes and lists: Check one by one that your medication list, your doctors' contact details and your appointment notes open on the new phone.

If you'd rather not back up to the cloud, the article 5 ways to back up your health records without the cloud goes through the options one by one.

Step 2: Sign out of accounts and cut the connections

A phone doesn't just carry data; it's also an open door to your accounts. Because you get into many services without typing a password each time, it's easy to forget which accounts are signed in on the phone. The NCSC recommends knowing which services you're signed in to and with which details before you erase, and checking that verification codes sent by SMS work on another device.

1. Unpair your smartwatch. If a watch is paired with the phone, remove the pairing; Apple counts this among the steps before you hand over an iPhone.
2. Sign out of your accounts. On an iPhone, sign out of your Apple Account and the App Store; on another phone, remove the accounts you use there.
3. Move your verification methods. Transfer the authenticator apps and codes you use to sign in to banking and other important services to your new phone.
4. Clean up your trusted devices list. Remove the old phone from your account's trusted devices.

These steps may seem tedious, but they make sure the new owner can't get into your accounts or see your notifications. They also help the erase in the next step go through smoothly.

Step 3: Erase the phone completely

Your backup is ready and you've signed out; now it's time to erase. On an iPhone, this means going to the transfer or reset option in the General section of Settings and choosing Erase All Content and Settings. On Android phones, this is usually called a factory reset.

• If you're selling, trading in or giving away the phone, the NCSC recommends not choosing the option to keep personal files.
• The phone may ask for your passcode during the erase; this is to confirm that you're the one who started it.
• Menu names can vary by operating system version; if you can't find the option, you can type "reset" into the search box in Settings.
• Take out the SIM card; if you use an eSIM, talk to your carrier about moving your number.

As the NCSC also points out, a factory reset gives strong protection, but it isn't an absolute guarantee. Still, it's the recommended route for everyday use and protects you far better than deleting files one by one.

Final checklist before you hand it over

• Does the first setup screen appear when the phone turns on? If you see your own home screen, the erase isn't finished.
• Is the case free of prescriptions, appointment cards or scraps of notes?
• If you use a memory card, have you taken it out or erased it too?
• If you backed up the phone to a computer, do you know that backup is kept somewhere secure?

The same order applies if you're leaving the phone at a store for a trade-in or for repair. Even if the staff say they'll do the erase for you, erasing your own data yourself gives you peace of mind. If you're giving the phone to someone close to you, ask them to set it up from scratch with their own account; if they keep using it with your account, your health notifications and records could show up for the wrong person.

If the phone is no longer with you and you forgot to erase it, don't panic. In that case, Apple suggests asking the new owner to erase the device or erasing it remotely with the device-finding service in your account, and also changing your account password. For when a phone goes missing, you can also take a look at what happens to your health records if you lose your phone?

If you use Oveluni

Oveluni is a personal record-keeping app where you can keep your medication plans, daily logs and check-ups in one place. If your records matter to you, make sure they're on your new phone too before you erase the old one. If you're curious in general about where your data is stored in apps, where is your health data stored? is a good place to start. Oveluni is coming soon to the App Store.

Sources

1. Apple Support: What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your iPhone
2. NCSC: Buying and selling second-hand devices