Safe Data-Wipe

The day will come: your good-old Android shall get replaced by a newer model. If you no longer need the "old one", you probably want to give it away. But you certainly don't want the new owner accessing your sensible data which might have been stored on it. So what to do?

There's of course the Factory-Reset. But does it really sanitize your data in a way they cannot be (easily) restored? Unfortunately, that's not the case: though they are deleted, they are not wiped – so with the right tools, they could be restored. Admitted, that takes some little knowledge and work – but it's possible. A good counter-measure is to really "nuke" or "wipe" the storage – i.e. overwrite it with "random patterns". Corresponding guidelines are described by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in a PDF Dokument.

Secure Wipe

2019-08-08

Shreddit - Data Eraser (4.3@2,635) 8
Phone Factory Reset (4.3@708) 2
Data Sanitizer (4.3@27) 4 LastUpdate: 2017-02-08 free space only
Safe Delete (4.1@47) 5 safely deletes files (not wiping free space)
Secure delete (4@3,605) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / Secure delete Pro (4.2@192; ~EUR 2.00) Ǥ 6 files + folders
Android Eraser, Secure Wipe & Phone Cleaner (4@166) Ǥ 12 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ demo limited to 10MB/day; unlock key required (cost unknown)
Secure Erase with iShredder 6 (3.9@1,955) Ǥ 9 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / iShredder™ 6 PRO Data Shredder (3.9@199; ~EUR 5.50) Ǥ 13 / iShredder™ 6 Enterprise Eraser (4@100; ~EUR 9.50) Ǥ 13 Video Review 10/2013; Intro 12/2013; Vorstellung 1/2014; free version sanitizes free space only
Andro Shredder (3.9@1,565) 6 files + free space
Secure Bulldozer (Wipe Remove) (3.9@187) 4 LastUpdate: 2014-09-05
Fastwipe (3.9@85) 1 LastUpdate: 2014-03-18 sanitizes free space only
Secure Wipe (3.8@2,256) 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-06-13 sanitizes free space only
Secure Eraser (3.8@909) Ǥ 7 LastUpdate: 2017-03-18 sanitizes free space only
SDelete - File Shredder (3.8@594) 4 LastUpdate: 2017-09-15 / SDelete Pro - File Shredder (3.3@9; ~EUR 2.00) 2 LastUpdate: 2017-09-17
FShred - Wipe Free Space (3.8@125) 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-03-26 sanitizes free space
Safe Delete (3.8@39) Ǥ 17 LastUpdate: 2017-09-20 safely deletes files (not wiping free space)
SHREDDER : Data Eraser (3.7@328) Ǥ 10
Super Erase (3.6@433) Ǥ 5 LastUpdate: 2016-12-04 files + folders; free space requires in-app payment (go pro)
Complete Wipe (3.5@95) 3 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-07-03
Wipe Files (3.5@11) 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-02-22 Github; securely wipes files (but not free space)
Remo File Eraser (3.4@209) 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-09-13
Permanent Delete Files – Data Eraser (3.3@389) Ǥ 7
Secure File Deletion (3.3@72) 4 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2013-04-29

Automated Deletion

2019-08-08

Not quite a safe wipe as described above – but still a welcome helper: automatically do a factory-reset / delete all files, if the number of unsuccessful unlock-trials exceeds a certain threshold. That at least makes it more difficult for the attacker to access your data. Unfortunately, none of the few apps in this group is available anymore.

De-Deletion (Recovering)

2019-08-13

DigDeep Image Recovery (4.4@283,663) Ǥ 12
DiskDigger photo recovery (4.2@307,044) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / DiskDigger Pro file recovery (2.8@2,580; ~EUR 3.25) 5 Intro 7/2019
Restore Formatted SD Card (4.2@13,651) Ǥ 9
Recover My Files (4.2@8,977) 10
Dumpster: Recover My Deleted Picture & Video Files (4.1@260,113) Ǥ 22 Vorstellung 7/2014; Intro 7/2014; a recycle bin
Restore Deleted Photos & Image (4.1@5,350) 4 LastUpdate: 2017-05-12
GT Recovery - Undelete,Restore (4@39,218) Ǥ 17 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
Recover Deleted Pictures (4@4,337) 5 LastUpdate: 2017-12-30
Recover Formatted SD Card (3.9@14,408) Ǥ 9
Recover Deleted Files Photos & Videos (3.9@11,706) Ǥ 9 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
File Recovery - Photo & Video (3.9@10,538) Ǥ 5 LastUpdate: 2016-05-19
Recover Deleted All Files, Photos, Videos &Contact (3.9@369) 11
RECYCLING BIN (3.9@178) 8 LastUpdate: 2017-08-11
Data Recovery : Recover Deleted Photos (3.9@170) 10 LastUpdate: 2018-01-08
Deleted Photo Recovery Workshop (3.8@58,807) Ǥ 8 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
Recycle Bin (3.8@17,184) Ǥ 10
dr.fone - Recovery & Transfer wirelessly & Backup (3.7@28,028) Ǥ 6
Recover All My Deleted Files (3.7@6,394) 4
Undeleter Recover Files & Data (3.5@33,707) Ǥ 20 Intro 2/2012
GT SMS Recovery (3.3@2,471) Ǥ 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-06-30

Further Readings:

Best Apps To Delete Unwanted Photos from Android Phones Parmanently (8/2018)
Handy verkaufen? Daten richtig löschen (12/2017)
Handydaten sicher und endgültig löschen (9/2017 - 1/2018)
Gelöschte Bilder wiederherstellen (3/2015 - 1/2019)
Android bereinigen: So löscht Ihr überflüssige Dateien für mehr freien Speicherplatz (9/2014 - 12/2018)
Private Daten sicher löschen – so wird’s gemacht (7/2014)
Android zurücksetzen: So macht ihr euer Smartphone komplett platt (10/2013 - 1/2018)
Handy-Daten sicher löschen (10/2013 - 1/2018)

2019-08-13

IzzyOnDroid

Safe Data-Wipe

Secure Wipe

Automated Deletion

De-Deletion (Recovering)