Help HELP: phone gone but I have sim card - what info remains?

[NexusTootsie]

Phone finally crapped out today. I had been getting locked out for about a month; this would happen a) when I didn't have a data connection (lost it for about a week when I was in a remote area. ugh), b) if battery went below 50 or c) if it was in the middle of an upgrade/download/upload whatever the hell it does behind the scenes.

Today, even with fully charged, 4G optimum conditions I was seriously locked out. So having a contract, I took it back to best buy and got a loaner.

But I could not get in to return to original settings and wipe it clean. I took the SIM card. Is that sufficient or do I need to do something somehow from here. Call someone? I tooled around Google hoping to disable access in some way, but I couldn't find anything.

So I'm hoping one of you can tell me if sensitive information/passwords might be compromised. Assume rightly that I've been doing everything I can on my phone. I wonder how much of it remains on my gnex, and whether it can be accessed by someone else.

 

[NexusTootsie]

BUMP. Please folks... I really need an answer because I'm in a sweat over this.

Is there sensitive information remaining on my nexus that someone else can access? If there is, can I do something about it?

I have the sim card but I still worry about ...I don't know what, but I worry because I've used it like a computer. There isn't anything I haven't done on it, like ebay, like banking, etc. I've deregisterd that phone from Amazon, but other than that, most of my access is password protected. Can my passwords be accessed via the phone?

THANK YOU.

 

[Deleted User]

Yes, there is lots of information still on your phone. The SIM card has virtually no information on it.

Most passwords aren't stored in a retrievable format, so passwords likely aren't there, but any cached data, available offline emails, things like that could all be on the phone. Not to mention anywhere you might have selected "save my password" or "remember me."

Can you boot into recovery mode? Power on with both volume buttons held down to get into Fastboot, then press the volume down button until the top says Recovery, then hit the power button. If you can get in there, you can wipe user data.

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Do you still have physical access to the phone or is already sent out? Was the phone password/pin protected?

Unless you purposefully performed a factory reset on the phone, all of your data is still there: pictures, videos, music, cached webpages, call logs, text messages etc.

 

[Rxpert83]

It sounds like you dont have the phone? The first thing any company that gets the phone is going to do is perform a factory reset to wipe user data. I wouldn't be too concerned

If you still have it, just do it manually from recovery

 

[NexusTootsie]

Thank you for your reply. No way to get in. I tried every which way, so did the kids over at BB - the one helping me was pretty knowledgeable re devices. I'm not sure what he did or how he tried to get in, but he tried a number of different ways for a long time. No one could unlock it.

Now it's out of my hands. But if passwords aren't saved, then I'm okay. Not great but not terrible. I did a screenshot of all my apps so I can go to all of them this weekend and change all passwords....

Being that I'm old and paranoid in general, I'm not big on "save my password" except with email, so that could be weird...however I don't do much emailing or saving emails on my phone. Still...time to change pws.

Thank you. I think I know how to proceed. I hope anyway. THis is a miserable can of worms.

Yes, there is lots of information still on your phone. The SIM card has virtually no information on it.

Most passwords aren't stored in a retrievable format, so passwords likely aren't there, but any cached data, available offline emails, things like that could all be on the phone. Not to mention anywhere you might have selected "save my password" or "remember me."

Can you boot into recovery mode? Power on with both volume buttons held down to get into Fastboot, then press the volume down button until the top says Recovery, then hit the power button. If you can get in there, you can wipe user data.

 

[Rxpert83]

There's nothing to worry about. Best buy will wipe it as soon as its fixed

 

[NexusTootsie]

I am well aware of this, trust me. I could not do anything. I don't even know if it was really a lockout because in the past, if I could get the screen to feel any pressure, it would unlock. Finally, the touch was completely gone. Kaput.

In any case, it's somewhere, probably being poured over by Russian hackers working at BB. Fortunately I'm a poor old lady so there's nothing much to be found, no porn, no nothing. Just a lot of pictures of dogs and horses and whatnot. But I have some killer music files.

Thanks for your reply.

Do you still have physical access to the phone or is already sent out? Was the phone password/pin protected?

Unless you purposefully performed a factory reset on the phone, all of your data is still there: pictures, videos, music, cached webpages, call logs, text messages etc.

 

[NexusTootsie]

That's what my husband the geek says. He said if there were any shenanigans associated with Best Buy, it would be widely reported, because when you piss off people today, they write about it everywhere now. He did a search and nothing, so I think we're okay.

But I worry. I don't care about the music, but I don't know...it felt so weird to turn over my phone to anyone...unlike a computer that craps out, you can't physically remove the HD...so the whole business is so damned worrisome.

Thanks for being reassuring. I tend to worry. I'm still going to change all my passwords. It's probably a good idea. One never knows.

It sounds like you dont have the phone? The first thing any company that gets the phone is going to do is perform a factory reset to wipe user data. I wouldn't be too concerned

If you still have it, just do it manually from recovery

 

[NexusTootsie]

Can you boot into recovery mode? Power on with both volume buttons held down to get into Fastboot, then press the volume down button until the top says Recovery, then hit the power button. If you can get in there, you can wipe user data.

I think I'm going to have this tattooed on my arm for future reference. I don't know if anyone did that or not. But it's an excellent piece of information you provided. I thank you for it.