ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued an important advisory urging citizens to protect their personal and sensitive information before selling, handing over or sending their mobile phones for repair.
The PTA warned that smartphones contain personal photos, contacts, messages, documents, passwords and access to social media accounts, making users vulnerable to data theft and privacy breaches if proper precautions are not taken.
The authority advised users to ensure that all data on their phones is fully encrypted before performing a factory reset. After encryption, users should carry out a complete factory reset to prevent the recovery of deleted personal information.
کیا آپ کو معلوم ہے کہ فیکٹری ری سیٹ کے بعد بھی آپ کا ذاتی ڈیٹا دوبارہ حاصل کیا جا سکتا ہے؟
دیکھیں، چند آسان اقدامات کے ذریعے آپ اپنی پرائیویسی کا تحفظ کیسے یقینی بنا سکتے ہیں۔#ڈیٹا_پرائیویسی #PrivacyMatters #ProtectYourData #DigitalSafety #OnlineSecurity #DataProtection… pic.twitter.com/lJiV6w4ALV— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) August 10, 2026
The PTA further recommended that users transfer some non-sensitive or unnecessary photos and videos back to the device after the first factory reset and then perform another factory reset. The additional process will further minimize the likelihood of retrieving previously saved personal information.
Moreover, people have been advised to back up all important pictures, contacts, documents, and other files to a safe place like cloud storage or an external hard drive prior to removing the information from their mobiles.
Additionally, the PTA has instructed the citizens to remove the SIM card and memory card from their phones before giving them to anyone.
As per the statement of the authority, these precautions could be helpful for protecting personal data from any kind of data breach or theft.
