Over the past 25 years of tracking my digital footprint, I’ve accumulated approximately 2.1 TB of personal data. This includes around 170 GB of documents (75,000 files, excluding emails), 1.6 TB of videos dating back to 2004 (11,000 clips), and 380 GB of photos taken since the 1990s (64,000 images, not counting my analogue archive of about 15,000 prints).
This isn’t just a technical archive—it’s a living record of my experiences, creativity, and personal history.
This raises important philosophical questions
- What parts of our digital lives are truly worth preserving, and why?
- How can we ensure our data remains accessible and meaningful for future generations, given the fragility and rapid obsolescence of digital formats?
- Who holds the responsibility for preserving this digital heritage, and what ethical challenges emerge when passing it on to future generations—particularly in balancing privacy, personal legacy, and the potential value these digital memories may offer?
I may be hitting that middle-age milestone.