Digital Cleanup Day: Unpacking the hidden costs of stored data
Cleaning up your digital footprint will help you reduce your personal carbon footprint and improve digital privacy as well.
Did you know data centres and the tech sector account for approximately four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the world’s entire aviation industry? Both sectors use extreme volumes of water to cool large scale data centres. These statistics are only growing as more data centres are built to support demand for AI powered tools.
What is dark data?
It is estimated that 85% of all stored cloud data is “dark” data, or data that we do not use, or even remember exists. Think about it, seven copies of that blurry photo from a social in 2021? All the attachments in your chats? Do you really need them? If everyone worked together to get rid of all that useless data, it would be comparable to removing 1.2 million cars from the roads.
Hidden cost of tech and AI
Understanding the true cost of tech and AI services is important. Before you use them, consider whether the benefits are worth it to you knowing that the downstream power and water usage required for these tools are significant.
Protecting your privacy
Cleaning up your digital footprint will help you reduce your personal carbon footprint, and as an added bonus, will likely improve your digital privacy footprint as well. Popular apps and games sometimes collect and share information about you such as your contacts and phone usage, even when you not using them! While you can protect some leakage by rigorously checking and updating your phone settings, you could also offload apps that are no longer in use. This is a foolproof way to make sure your data stays with you.
If you want to do your part this year, check out the Digital Cleanup Day resource page to help you clean up your phone or tablet. For more information on the apps that have the worst privacy footprint, check out the PC Magazine which published this list in February.
