Net Zeros and Ones

CHAPTER 4Information Lifecycle Management

• 4.1 Information Lifecycle Management vs. Data Lifecycle Management
• 4.2 Information Lifecycle Management
  • 4.2.1 Lifecycle Stages
• 4.3 Data Security Lifecycle
  • 4.3.1 Stages for Data Security Lifecycle
• 4.4 Data Hygiene
• 4.5 Data Sanitization
  • 4.5.1 Physical Destruction
  • 4.5.2 Cryptographic Erasure
  • 4.5.3 Data Erasure
• 4.6 Summary

4.1 Information Lifecycle Management vs. Data Lifecycle Management

Data lifecycle management (DLM) is the term applied to a program that tracks attributes of files such as age, creation date, size, format, and other metadata. DLM programs are supported by commercial products mostly concerned with tracking where each file is stored and how long it should be kept available for access before it is archived. Backup and recovery plans can be developed from DLM programs. The term DLM is often used interchangeably with information lifecycle management (ILM). There is an important distinction. ILM goes beyond these general attributes to search for various types of data that might appear within those files, such as national identity numbers, credit card numbers, and other personal information.

Again, the distinction between ILM and DLM is important. The EU General Data Protection Regulation, for instance, defines the right to erasure in Article 17, often called the right to be forgotten. Data subjects are given the right to request their information to be erased upon request—with proof that the information has truly ...