One third of adults can't delete device data

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned that many adults don't know how to wipe their old devices, and a worrying number of young people just don't care.

Clearing personal data off an old device is an important step before ditching it or handing it on to another user. However, almost three in ten (29 percent) of adults don't know how to remove the information, according to a survey of 2,170 members of the UK public.

Seventy-one percent agreed that wiping a device was important, but almost a quarter (24 percent) reckoned it was too arduous. This means that the drawer of dusty devices is set to swell – three-quarters of respondents reported hanging on to at least one old device, and a fifth did so because they were worried about their personal information.

It's an age thing, but perhaps not in the way Reg readers might expect. After all, the young tend to be a bit more tech-savvy, right?

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