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
- Phone Factory Reset (4.5@1,212) 2
1
LastUpdate: 2018-08-26
- Shreddit - Data Eraser (4.3@4,334) 8
1
LastUpdate: 2019-04-19
- Data Sanitizer (4.3@32) 4
1
free space only
- Secure Erase with iShredder 6 (4.2@4,181) Ǥ 13
2
/ iShredder™ 6 PRO Data Shredder (4.4@15; ~EUR 5.50) Ǥ 12
2
/ iShredder™ 6 Enterprise Eraser (4.1@103; ~EUR 9.50) Ǥ 12
free version sanitizes free space only
- Secure delete (3.9@3,898) 5
/ Secure delete Pro (4.3@206; ~EUR 2.25) Ǥ 6
1
files + folders
- 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
- Andro Shredder (3.8@1,728) 6
1
LastUpdate: 2018-03-20 files + free space
- SHREDDER : Permanent Delete - Safe & Secure Erase (3.7@701) Ǥ 11
6
- Data Eraser cb (3.7@648) Ǥ 9
demo limited to 10MB/day; unlock key required (cost unknown)
- FShred - Wipe Free Space (3.7@159) 2
LastUpdate: 2017-03-26 sanitizes free space
- Permanent Delete Files – Data Eraser (3.6@1,275) Ǥ 9
4
- Safe Delete (3.6@281) 5
3
LastUpdate: 2018-04-02 safely deletes files (not wiping free space)
- Wipe files (3.6@15) 2
LastUpdate: 2016-02-22 Github; securely wipes files (but not free space)
- Secure Wipe (3.5@2,426) 2
LastUpdate: 2014-06-13 sanitizes free space only
- SDelete - File Shredder (3.5@825) 4
1
LastUpdate: 2017-09-15 / SDelete Pro - File Shredder (3.5@11; ~EUR 2.00) 2
LastUpdate: 2017-09-17
- Safe Delete (3.4@168) Ǥ 16
2
safely deletes files (not wiping free space)
- Complete Wipe (3.3@114) 3
LastUpdate: 2016-06-21
- Super Erase (3.2@538) Ǥ 6
3
files + folders; free space requires in-app payment (go pro)
- Remo File Eraser (3.2@224) 2
LastUpdate: 2015-09-13
- Secure File Deletion (3.2@72) 4
1
LastUpdate: 2014-11-13
Automated Deletion
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.
- Ripple: respond when panicking (3.9@144) 0
Github; trigger panic actions in supporting apps
De-Deletion (Recovering)
- DigDeep Image Recovery (4.2@335,783) Ǥ 14
7
- Recover My Files (4.2@8,977) 10
3
LastUpdate: 2018-06-21
- Dumpster Bin File Recovery. Restore Deleted Videos (4.1@375,247) Ǥ 24
15
Intro 7/2014; a recycle bin
- Restore Deleted Photos & Image (4.1@5,350) 4
1
LastUpdate: 2017-05-12
- Deleted Photo Recovery Workshop (4@69,856) Ǥ 7
- GT Recovery - Undelete,Restore (4@39,218) Ǥ 17
LastUpdate: 2019-02-08
- Recover Deleted Pictures (4@4,337) 5
3
LastUpdate: 2017-12-30
- File Recovery - Photo & Video (3.9@14,046) Ǥ 5
1
LastUpdate: 2016-05-19
- RECYCLING BIN (3.9@178) 8
LastUpdate: 2017-08-11
- Data Recovery : Recover Deleted Photos (3.9@170) 10
3
LastUpdate: 2018-01-08
- DiskDigger photo recovery (3.8@385,176) 5
/ DiskDigger Pro file recovery (3@3,326; ~EUR 3.25) 5
Intro 7/2019
- Recycle Bin (3.7@17,524) Ǥ 9
3
- Recover Deleted All Files, Photos, Videos &Contact (3.6@844) 12
3
- Undeleter Recover Files & Data (3.5@39,591) Ǥ 20
26
- GT SMS Recovery (3.3@2,471) Ǥ 10
LastUpdate: 2016-06-30
- dr.fone - Recovery & Transfer wirelessly & Backup (2.7@31,907) Ǥ 6
4
Further Readings:
- Best Apps To Delete Unwanted Photos from Android Phones Parmanently (8/2018)
- Handy verkaufen? Daten richtig löschen (12/2017 - 12/2019)
- 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)