5.21 Implement Appropriate Data Management Procedures

Expired or unused data has a cost, takes up space, and requires maintenance. As such, the ability for customers to manage their own data and for service providers to manage older website material which no longer applies but might still have use will be a carbon benefit.

Criteria

Outdated Content: Outdated or otherwise expired product content and data are archived and deleted via automated expiration dates and scheduled product audits. An archiving schedule with a lighter version of the old searchable content is made available.
Data Controllers: Users can control, manage, and delete their data, subscriptions, and accounts.

Impact

Low

Effort

High

Benefits

Environmental:
By storing less data, you inherently require less computing power to maintain a service, and this will require less energy within the Internet’s infrastructure. This will help to reduce your emissions.
Privacy:
Good data management supports better data protection practices.
Performance:
Putting older information that is less relevant onto a smaller scaled-down version of your website will reduce your bandwidth usage, and it’s likely not going to impact visitors as archived information will have significantly fewer visitors.
Economic:
Requiring less data has a potential financial benefit in that the lower storage requirements mean that you can scale down your hosting package or, if on a pay-as-you-go scheme, simply be charged less for your infrastructure costs.

GRI

materials: Low
energy: Low
water: Low
emissions: Low

Example

Ensuring data is archived can prove useful if it’s later deleted.

Resources

View the Guideline