Whether you’re a company or a home user, there is likely large amounts of data on your electronic devices you do not need.
Data hoarding, the collection and storing of data out of habit and compulsion, is something of a hidden but significant bugbear for many modern computer users.
Data hoarding doesn’t just cause your storage devices to balloon full either. It can be a major issue, especially if it’s companies who collect the data of clients. Join us today as we discuss the nature of this phenomenon and the ways it may hurt you (and those you serve).
Why Has Data Hoarding Become an Issue?
While some view data hoarding as a mixed blessing, the reality is that it does more harm than good. It fills storage devices, can cloud up everyday use, and even can attract hackers.
The only real grey area is in regards to people who consider themselves data archivists. If a user intends to collect and save huge volumes of the internet, for instance, is that data hoarding?
The answer to that question may not be clear-cut but it’s also an edge case. Few users are making a genuine effort to archive data, hoping to save it for posterity. For that reason, it’s a question that doesn’t need an answer for the majority of data hoarding to be looked at as an issue.
A Lack of Proficiency Can Lead to Headaches
While it’s getting rarer, many older and otherwise less proficient users tend to be seriously inefficient when using computers. You may have even seen how this can result in data hoarding without realizing it.
If you’ve ever seen a computer user whose desktop is an unorganized mess of different files, you’ve seen data be hoarded. This inefficiency is often caused more by a lack of proficiency and basic computer discipline than any active intent.
Helping these users learn to organize and delete files can often be enough to resolve the issue.
Capturing Moments and Getting to It Tomorrow
The average home user, with at least moderate computer proficiency, can data hoard too. This type of hoarding tends to come down to two major issues: a viewing of files not unlike photographs and just downright laziness.
There is some merit to the first point. Some files may be important to you, like original fiction you’ve written or art you’ve made.
Most, however, you will never look at again and would forget you deleted a few days after doing so. You shouldn’t feel obligated to keep files past their use, even if they were once important to you in some way.
Perhaps a more prevalent issue is when users keep files around they will “get to tomorrow.” Whether that means they’ll finish them up or just delete them “later,” some files sit years on PCs doing nothing.
Chances are you have a project you never intend to finish sitting on your computer. Delete it! It will free up space and, if it has important information on it, reduce the risk you’ll be under if you’re ever hacked.
Big Data Has Poisoned Us
There are some who argue corporate data hoarding can often be blamed on Big Data. There has been a big push to view data as valuable (and it often is) but many companies jump into that mentality without knowing how to differentiate.
These data hoarding security risks stand to often lose the most of any of the types of hoarders we’ve noted so far.
Data hoarding can choke organizations with useless information obfuscating other data that may be needed. In some cases, it may even lead to the corruption and loss of data that would have been useful.
The solution to this issue is a set of clear rules for data management, coupled with organization. If every user of a company PC knows where files go, and which pieces of data can be deleted, operations will run much more smoothly.
This is ignoring that the hoarding of client data means leaks and breaches become much worse. Protecting client data is serious enough business without it coming out you gathered more data than you needed and kept it for no other reason than to have it.
In the worst cases, this could expose you to a lawsuit.
Common Solutions
The number one way to solve data hoarding of all kinds is organization. If you cannot find a file again, or recognize what a file is, then it may sit forevermore in its place. Develop a system, either for yourself or your company, that is easy to understand and gives the files you’re working with clear places to be on your network.
You can further help some aspects of data hoarding with things like file compressors. For example, compressing PDFs may help you save space. If you need many of a similar type of file, compressing can allow for much more data to be stored.
Learning when to just delete files is another must when it comes to avoiding hoarding behavior. Most new data on your computer won’t be useful a month down the line. If you develop the discipline to delete things you won’t need, your system will be much better for it.
The ability to send documents securely also can help prevent data hoarding. If you don’t need to double up key files between multiple computers, it can prevent a growing sea of unneeded and rarely needed data. It won’t always be an option, but remember that you don’t always need every file to be shared between every company (and relevant client) PC.
A Little Effort Can Help You Avoid Data Hoarding
Data hoarding is a common issue but it’s also one moderate discipline will solve. If your computers are full of files that go unused, especially files that contain sensitive data, it’s time to organize what you have and clear out what’s not needed.
For the files you have left, we also have dozens of converters to help make sure they’re in the file type you actually want. That’s even putting aside the fact that, like was said earlier, our compressors will be able to save you even more space!