If you think your data is deleted after a factory reset, think again.
I'm Bridget Carey and this is your Cnet update.
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Before donating or reselling an old smartphone many folks will do a factory reset to wipe everything off the phone.
But the problem is, a factory reset doesn't really delete everything.
A new study from the security software maker, Avast, found that it's still possible to pull up photos, emails, texts, and other documents from a reset Android phone.
Now for the study, Avast purchased 20 Android Smartphones off eBay.
And in those 20 factory reset phones they were still able to recover more than 40,000 photos, including 250 nude photos.
They also recovered 750 emails and text messages, 250 contacts, as well as the identities of four previous owners and one completed loan application.
All it takes to pull up old data is a pretty basic software program.
Now a factory reset does delete everything on the surface, but to truly delete the data, you need to rewrite over it.
So after a reset, you could fill up the phone with more documents to make it harder to find the original data.
Avast also has its own Android app that can help you delete data.
You can find more tips on how to do this at Cnet.
And by now you've probably heard about this wild potato salad success story.
A guy posted a project on Kickstarter, asking the Internet for a $10 donation, so you can just make some potato salad.
Well, the Internet loves this humor and honesty so Zack Brown of Columbus, Ohio raised more than $50,000 as of this report.
Funds have come in from about 4,000 people from countries around the world.
Brown says that he'll throw a massive potato salad party in his hometown and invite all those from the Internet that helped him reach this tasty dream.
Now some have said he should donate them money.
Although you can't specifically raise money for charity on Kickstarter, what he does with the profit is up to him.
So yes, he could donate it.
This story has spawned other food projects on Kickstarter.
Melissa W from Oregon wants to make some bacon cupcakes.
And if you donate $3 to Mark in Fort Meyers Florida, well he'll send you a pancake in the mail.
Now there are some ground rules to how Kickstarter works, you can't just ask for money to pay for your rent, but a project to create something, even just a side dish is fair game, but this potato salad it's not just potato salad, it's a symbol for the American dream.
To push the boundaries and do what some would say is impossible.
And to get famous on the Internet for doing a stupid thing and then getting paid for doing it.
That's your Tech News Update from our studios in New York, I'm Bridget Carey.
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