Konfidentsialsust

Konfidentsialsust is a term used in information governance to describe an approach that seeks to harmonize data confidentiality with long-term sustainability of data assets. It emphasizes protecting sensitive information while minimizing environmental and operational costs associated with data storage, processing, and transmission. In practice, konfidentsialsust integrates privacy-by-design, robust access controls, and efficient data management to maintain usable data without unnecessary duplication or retention.

Etymology and origins: The term combines the Norwegian/Scandinavian roots for confidentiality with the English suffix sust from sustainability. It emerged in early 2020s Nordic and European IT governance discussions as a response to rising concerns about both data privacy and the ecological footprint of data centers and data retention policies.

Core principles: data minimization and need-to-know; strong cryptographic measures and secure authentication; lifecycle management including retention schedules and secure deletion; auditability and transparency; energy-efficient infrastructure and computational methods; compliance with privacy laws and governance standards.

Applications: used in cloud service design, clinical research data management, public sector recordkeeping, and enterprise data warehouses where confidential datasets must be preserved for compliance yet not retained longer than necessary.

Challenges and reception: lacks formal standards; measuring sustainability of data is complex; balancing utility and confidentiality; potential conflicts with data retention mandates; requires cross-disciplinary governance and investment in privacy-preserving technologies.

See also: data governance, privacy-by-design, data minimization, green computing.