Q: Does erasing all content and settings prevent people from being able to still access your private information if you sell your phone?

The erase all content and settings option on the iPhone is a secure erase.

Erasing all Content and Settings or Restoring the device as new via iTunes wipes ALL data from the phone. The only people who can retrieve that data are very determined hackers who have specialized equipment that costs quite a bit of money (and the police).

Plus they wouldn't be able to get anything that would put your identity at risk. Your Apple ID would still require your password, your credit card information wouldn't show up in the iTunes or App Store (even if they could guess your password to get to that point), and unless you regularly text or email your social security number they wouldn't be able to get that either.

Not to mention that they would have to have your email password to recover the emails.

So don't worry, erasing all content and settings or restoring as new will prevent people from stealing your identity.

You mean on a Mac?

Restoring the iPhone as new will definitely take care of that. I can't be 100% that erasing all content and settings will, but I know for fact that the restore will.

Erasing all content and settings direct on the iPhone certainty does and is a secure erase.

Restoring with iTunes is not a secure erase.

How is removing and deleting all content (including the iOS) and putting a newly downloaded operating system onto the device not a secure erase?

Because it is not. No different from doing a simple erase and install of the operating system on your computer's hard drive which is not a secure erase either.

You obviously don't know what a secure erase is.

With normal erase, only the file header info will be wipe, the content is still there. If you have the right tool, you can get at the content. With secure erase, the whole file will be over written with zeros.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/termss/g/secure-erase.htm

http://blog.itsecurityexpert.co.uk/2011/10/securely-wiping-your-personal-data-fr om.html

is it possible to Recover data from an ipad after performing an "Erase All Content and Settings" operation? I got a new iPad as a gift from a close family member. He used iCloud to transfer everything from my old iPad to the new one. Then, he wiped using the erase all contents so it could be resold. Problem is, six months of work in iAnnotate did not get transferred. The fault is entirely mine for not having an alternate backup system since iAnnotate doesn't do iCloud and only recently added Dropbox.

But I am desperate to recover six months of hard work and would like to find out who can rebuild the encryption so the data can be recovered.

is it possible to Recover data from an ipad after performing an "Erase All Content and Settings" operation? I got a new iPad as a gift from a close family member. He used iCloud to transfer everything from my old iPad to the new one. Then, he wiped using the erase all contents so it could be resold. Problem is, six months of work in iAnnotate did not get transferred. The fault is entirely mine for not having an alternate backup system since iAnnotate doesn't do iCloud and only recently added Dropbox.

If you delete your data only by clicking the deletion button, I promises it is still be recoverable by from iOS data recovery app. Simple deletion is not enough.  Safewiper offers the most effective and safest data protection solution available by permanently wiping all personal data from the device and resetting system setting with just one click. 

Guide: How to erase data from iPad, iPhone without recovery:

http://www.safewiper.com/tutorials/ipad-data-eraser.html