Dead spots on my Iphone prevent me from using it, do I just throw it out?

I’am sure it’s a software error but the problem is the dead spots prevent me from putting in my pass code to start using my iphone. I dont have apple care so it will cost me to fix it, can I even fix a dead spot. Is this fixable or is my iphone as good as garbage, I dont want to sell it because I have very private info in there.