Data as pollution

Here is a thought-provoking quote attributed to Bruce Schneier in a friendfeed post by Zee (editor in chief of thenextweb.com): “Data is the pollution of the information age. It’s a natural byproduct of every computer-mediated interaction. It stays around forever, unless it’s disposed of. It is valuable when reused, but it must be done carefully. Otherwise, its after effects are toxic.”