5
Most people simply throw away an old SIM card with their household trash. That’s not a good idea: Data is stored on the card. Find out which method is safe in this article.
Disposing of a SIM Card: Where Should You Put It?
- Small and unassuming—the SIM card. Once it’s reached the end of its useful life, it usually ends up in the trash. At best, it was deactivated beforehand.
- However, a SIM card isn’t just for making phone calls. These small cards store a lot of data that can be easily read. So this method of disposal is anything but secure—after all, you wouldn’t just throw away a hard drive either.
- You could grab a pair of scissors and cut the SIM card in half, similar to a credit card. While this renders a credit card unusable, the data on a SIM card can still be recovered—so this isn’t secure either.
- To dispose of a SIM card securely, it must be shredded using a specific method. Paper shredders are classified according to different security levels, which determine how finely they cut a document.
- Shredding levels E4–E5 are considered secure for disposing of a SIM card. When shredded to this standard, the data can definitely no longer be recovered. In the interest of data security, some companies have specialized in the secure disposal of storage media.
- There, you can turn in your SIM card and be sure that no one can access your data. This is particularly relevant for SIM cards used for business purposes.
