Are You An Old Cell Phone 'Hoarder?' You're Not Alone
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SAN FRANCISCO -
This holiday season, 33 million new smartphones will hit store shelves, and people everywhere will upgrade to new devices.
But with an average lifespan of 18 months, what happens to the old phones and the personal information on them?
Lookout, a mobile security company and makers of an app that helps people safeguard their phone and data, released a survey Thursday about how many people still have old phones and what we can do with them.
"With all of the smart phones coming out this holiday season, we were really curious to see when people get a new smart phone, what happens to their old smart phone?" Jenny Roy, a Lookout mobile safety advocate from San Francisco, Calif. "So, Lookout did a survey and we found that Americans are really a nation of hoarders. So 62 percent have more than one … old phone stuck in their house. And one in 10 people have four or more phones stuck in their house. And we wanted to figure out, well, why do they have all these old phones and why aren't they doing anything with them? And the No. 1 reason is because people are concerned about the personal information – such as contacts and videos and photos – that are on those old phones."
Lookout is partnering with them to donate old phones and in turn they provide families overseas with calling cards, so they can call home especially over the holidays.
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