I picked up a new Samsung Propel last week to replace my dying Motorola flip phone. I use my tech until it’s on its last legs, so along with the three years of hard use there are three years of phone numbers, pictures and data on that sucker.

I bought my phone at an AT&T store so they could set it up for me. I like to recycle when I can, so I planned to give them my phone while I was there. However I didn’t because the guy who helped me recommended taking it home “just in case” there was anything I wanted off the old phone. I’m glad he stopped me.

I realized after looking at it that there’s tons of information on that phone, and I don’t know what AT&T does with recycled phones or who handles them after they’ve been turned in by customers. Notably absence from my transaction in the store was any advice or checklist about how to decommission my old phone. Yikes.

As these phones become more and more like laptops, I need to shift my thinking and start treating them the same way. I would never give a laptop away without reformatting and reimaging the harddrive, so why treat a “cellphone” any differently? No reason.

After I finish clearing my old phone, I need to figure out how to lock my new one. Almost makes me long for the days when my only phone worry was when my neighbors would get off the party line.