Phone research for novel!

[Guest]

Hi, I want to get my facts right for a novel so would appreciate any help.

If a fully-charged old flip phone (any make) is not used for a year, would the battery have run down completely or would you still be able to switch it on for a few moments?

Once the phone company has shut down the pay-as-you-go account due to inactivity, would it still be possible to read text messages and recover contact details? It would be ideal for my scenario if you couldn't – if all information is stored on the SIM – but would there always still be information on the internal memory? And if so, would the storage be different on a basic smartphone?

Basically, I want someone to find a phone and read the messages and contacts, but a few weeks later find all the information has been wiped because the company has shut it down. Is this plausible?

Many thanks!

 

[Someone Somewhere]

If a fully-charged old flip phone (any make) is not used for a year, would the battery have run down completely or would you still be able to switch it on for a few moments?

Probably still some charge, but I'm not sure. Would need to be properly off, not just standby. Battery disconnected would be ideal.

Once the phone company has shut down the pay-as-you-go account due to inactivity, would it still be possible to read text messages and recover contact details? It would be ideal for my scenario if you couldn't – if all information is stored on the SIM – but would there always still be information on the internal memory? And if so, would the storage be different on a basic smartphone?

Even information stored on the SIM can still be read, almost whatever the phone company does. Simply turning off your account doesn't prevent it; that would only prevent sending/receiving info.

They may have remote wipe capabilities, though. Not certain. This would require someone actually hitting the button on the cellphone company's end, and the cellphone being connected to their network. Wouldn't be the kind of thing you do automatically.

Basically, I want someone to find a phone and read the messages and contacts, but a few weeks later find all the information has been wiped because the company has shut it down. Is this plausible?

Your best option would probably be voicemail. That's stored in your carrier's network, and it's easily plausible for it to be deleted after a few months of inactivity - I know of at least one operator who does this.