The biggest fear people have when selling a used phone isn't the price—it's data privacy. We store our entire lives on our smartphones: banking apps, private photos, emails, and passwords.
At Tango Buyback, we take data security seriously. Before you sell your device to us (or anyone else), follow these 5 critical steps to ensure your personal information stays personal.
1. Back Up Your Data
Before you do anything, save your data!
- iPhone: Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup > Back Up Now.
- Android: Go to Settings > Google > Backup.
- This ensures you can restore everything seamlessly to your new device.
2. Sign Out of Accounts (Crucial!)
Simply resetting the phone isn't enough if you are still logged in.
- For Apple: You must sign out of Find My iPhone and iCloud. If you don't, the phone becomes "Activation Locked" and is useless to the next owner.
- For Android: Remove your Google Account from settings to prevent "FRP" (Factory Reset Protection) locks.
3. Unpair Watch & Earbuds
If you have an Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch paired to the phone, unpair it before wiping the device to save yourself connection headaches later.
4. Remove SIM & Memory Cards
It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people leave their SIM cards inside! We always check for this at Tango Buyback, but it’s good practice to remove them at home.
5. The Factory Reset
Once you have backed up and signed out, perform a "Factory Data Reset" in your settings. This returns the phone to the state it was in when you first bought it.
The Tango Buyback Safety Promise
Even if you factory reset your phone, we perform a secondary government-grade data wipe on all devices we purchase. This ensures that no data recovery software can ever retrieve your old files.
Sell with confidence. When you sell to Tango Buyback, you are selling to a registered, professional company that prioritizes your privacy.
