With the proliferation of so-called smartphones, folks are more and more dependent upon their mobile devices. In fact, many manufacturers want you to believe that your smartphone is a computer capable of making phone calls, as opposed to a phone with advanced capabilities. This is certainly a valid point, but what many fail to realize is, like computers, smartphones need to be protected against data loss.
It’s not just smartphones. Most computer users know that they must run regular backups of their hard drives or risk complete loss of the information stored within. But still, many don’t back up their systems. It seems that with phones many don’t even think about backups.
Flashback Data, a data recovery and computer forensics company based in Austin, Texas, recently released survey results of more than 400 respondents. Not surprisingly, more than two-thirds of these respondents do not back up their phone on a regular basis. More than half of the respondents don’t back up their PCs.
Almost incongruously, nearly 70 percent of the respondents reported having lost data. And yet still backups aren’t done.
The survey also revealed the reasons for data loss. Accidental deletion of data was reported by nearly 35 percent of respondents as the reason for their data loss, while dropping of the device was reported by 13 percent. Water damage was reported by nearly 18 percent of respondents, and this number is almost certain to be higher in Hawaii, given that we are surrounded by an ocean.
So a lot of folks lose data, and often, for the most benign reasons. And still, backups aren’t done, despite the fact that backups are so easy nowadays, especially for smartphones.
For example, Apple provides its iCloud service that allows users to upload their data to an Internet-based backup facility. Android and other competitors have similar capabilities. While many folks are concerned about the privacy of their data when backing up to the cloud, the fact of the matter is the NSA is going to get your data no matter where it might be.
Alternatively, simply plugging in your smartphone into your computer, and using a simple piece of free software that comes with your phone, will allow easy and regular backups. Anyone who can figure out how to store critical data in his phone can easily figure out how to back it up to a computer.
If you do suffer from data loss, without a backup, there are specialized companies that can attempt to recover your data. However, recovering data from a phone can cost in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars and could take several days if not weeks.
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John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 25 years of information technology experience in Hawaii and around the world. Reach him at johnagsalud@yahoo.com.
