If I factory reset a Samsung phone, if I sell it off, do I have to worry about my data being linked back to previously owning that phone? Or should I be in the clear, while no government agency is after me, would I be linkable back to the phone? (S21 Ultra Exynos) if model is relevant to answer
Technically IMEI could be linked to your pyhsical store purchase, at least if those are recorded
Eg. Warehouse A send Phone with IMEI X to Store B, Store B sells phone to buyer Y
But practically speaking you’ll be fine
Wiping/Factory Resetting an Android device formats the userdata partition, meaning any of your own data is removed. Technically it can be recovered as it doesn’t overwrite the storage with zeroes.
There is some data that is kept, however. Specifically through Google’s Factory Reset Protection, which aims to achieve similar things to google’s iCloud Lock. Make sure to manually remove your Google Account before wiping the device to make sure parts of your E-Mail don’t show up on the device again.
Other than that, there may be outside factors (like an IMEI) which may be linked back to the device.
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absolutely not. I am using the S21+ snap version and the data will only be linked to the backup copy at Samsung Cloud
oh, I did not take into account that Samsung had their own backup solution. Do they also have their own reset-protection or account-linked-activation-lock?
If so, those might be other things linked back to the device.
It probably wouldn’t hurt to run Extirpater after you reset it, to ensure none of your data is recoverable. You should be safe after that.
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