New research from Kroll Ontrack, the leading provider of data recovery services, reveals that adults in the UK carry an average £490 worth of technology on them every day, putting themselves at risk of damaging or losing personal technology.

With Brits rarely leaving the house without multiple tablets, mobile phones, laptops and wearable technology, this could equate to a potential loss of £25billion.

The research reveals that 33% of the UK population carry over £500 of technology daily, with the average value of items carried by respondents at £1,039, meaning the total of £17.8billion of personal technology items are being carried.

Kroll Ontrack also found that 97% of UK adults carry a mobile device, with an additional 9% having a work mobile phone as well.

Other technology is also used; 31% of Brits carry a tablet, 29% carry a laptop, and 8% wear wearable technology.

Highlighting the financial risk, over 26% of UK adults have had their devices damaged within 12 months, with 56% of devices needing replacing or repair work.

‘Minimising the risk of data recovery’

Many Brits also admitted that they were unaware of the risks through not recycling devices properly or backing up data, with over 11% admitting they were not sure if their data was deleted when throwing away old tablets, mobile phones or computers.

Phil Bridge, managing director at Kroll Ontrack, said: “Despite the promise of a single device to meet every single personal communications need, what’s actually happened is the emergence of multiple devices for different requirements.

“While it is completely up to individuals how they look after and insure their personal devices, we would advise consumers to always perform backups and to ensure that they thoroughly delete personal data on their devices before disposing or recycling them.

“Our research shows that even when devices are reset to factory settings or are partially destroyed by water, fire or physical damage, we are still able to recover personal data from them. Specialist erasure software that overwrites existing data several times will minimise the risk of data recovery.”

The research also noted only 32% back up data on electronic devices, leaving 68% risking the loss of private information.

Written by Leah Alger