Searches related to Apple’s iPhone 5C have surged over the past year. On Monday, IT outlet TechRadar reported that phone recycling comparison site Compare and Recycle said searches for “buy iPhone 5C” rose by more than 40,000 percent over the past year.

Over the same period, searches for “iPhone 5C camera” rose 1,815 percent, while searches for “iPhone 5C” increased 264 percent. Interest has returned to the iPhone 5C, released in 2013, even as Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and iPhone Duo gain popularity.

Gen Z’s preference for retro cameras and Y2K-style photos was cited as a backdrop. The iPhone 5C, which has an 8-megapixel camera, is again drawing attention as a way to take photos in that style.

Security risks are high, however. Compare and Recycle Chief Product Officer Lee Elliott (리 엘리엇) said the last iOS version supported by the iPhone 5C was iOS 10.3.3, released in 2017, and that there have been almost 10 years without updates or security fixes. For that reason, he warned, the iPhone 5C may struggle to protect personal data like the latest iPhones and could be vulnerable to data leaks, hacking and other security breaches.

Elliott advised that anyone using an iPhone 5C as a substitute for a retro digital camera should keep the device offline, leave it in airplane mode and not insert a SIM card. He also said users should not sign in to their personal Apple ID and that it is preferable to transfer photos to a computer by cable rather than using iCloud backup.

He added that if online access and app downloads are necessary, users should create a separate Apple ID dedicated to the device and should not sign in to email, banking or social media accounts containing personal information.