What Would You Save in a Disaster? Probably Your Smartphone

What’s the most important thing you own? If you're like many of us, probably your smartphone.

That was the takeaway in Secure Data Recovery Services' survey of 1,000 people, who were asked what they’d save if their home was about to be destroyed. With 66% claiming that losing digital assets is their big worry, the number one item to rescue was the phone, at 38%; the second was a computer, at 28%.

With two-thirds of people valuing their digital assets, nearly half (44%) said they’d even give up sex to avoid losing them. Yet 47% also said they don’t have those same assets backed up—time to read our Beginners Guide to PC Backup. (Also check out how to download backups of your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok data.)

Why are people rescuing their phones and PCs before anything else? The most precious digital data, according to survey respondents, are photos (91%) and videos (67%). Financial, health, legal records, and the like came third in importance, at 58%. They also don’t want to lose written and creative work, media collections, emails, texts, voicemails, and even video game progress.

And why are pictures and videos so important? Because, of course, they document one's personal history: children (62%), departed loved ones (53%), weddings (18%), and pets (20%).

For more information—including how many NSFW photos naughty people keep of their exes—read the full report at Secure Data Recovery Services.