32. Delete old user accounts and old data
Why does it matter?
Let’s be honest; we tend to store a lot of data just in case, only to use a fraction of it to inform business or product decisions. Given the environmental toll of data centers and networks (34% of greenhouse gas emissions of the digital world), we must be mindful of what we want to store and how we will use it before creating any digital product. This will help reduce server load, electricity consumption (power and cooling), and water consumption and increase hardware lifespan. Keep in mind that it might also have legal implications, such as creating a security risk when keeping personal data for too long.
What can I do?
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Collect what is necessary: If you don’t intend to use the data to power your product, build dashboards and extract insights with it, don’t collect it as a rule of thumb
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Audit data currently stored and regularly assess relevance
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Identify for each project, feature, and product which dataset you would need to track
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Set data retention and lifecycle policies to delete outdated or unnecessary data according to regulations and business needs
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Define policy to delete user accounts (inactive, obsolete or churned)
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Implement automated processes to implement data policies
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Give more control to users on how their data is being used and managed
What does success look like?
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🧑💰 Efficient utilization of data centers and servers for greener operations
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💰 Rigorous data security measures ensuring compliance and protecting user trust
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💰 Optimization leading to reduced cloud expenditure
Things to consider
We encourage you to educate your colleagues on the environmental benefits of data deletion and management. Ensure you develop simple and effective internal tools and frameworks to frame data collection, management, and deletion discussions. Have you ever had a company reach out to inform you they are deleting your account and data for security purposes? It’s a great practice and opportunity to educate users about the environmental benefits of data and account management and deletion. Deleting old accounts and data is win-win-win. It means there is less exposure to security risk for the business, less personal risk for users, less climate impact, and lower financial cost for the business.