We should treat personal electronic data with the same care and respect as weapons-grade plutonium -- it is dangerous, long-lasting and once it has leaked there's no getting it back

I said something similar two years ago:

In some ways, this tidal wave of data is the pollution problem of the information age. All information processes produce it. If we ignore the problem, it will stay around forever. And the only way to successfully deal with it is to pass laws regulating its generation, use and eventual disposal.