By Catherine Powell
Many consumers are thrilled when it comes time to purchase a new computer or smartphone. With Christmas only a month and a half away, people will be purchasing new laptops, tablets and smartphones. New devices are faster and have more features than older models. The problem is, how do you donate or sell the older device when it potentially contains everything from personal contacts and photos to bank account numbers and your social security number? While you can delete all of the above mentioned files, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the files have been permanently eliminated from memory. In fact, there are inexpensive software programs on the market that can recover deleted files from any device. Other than burying your unwanted devices in the backyard, what can consumers do to steam clean all of them?
