Ending It All Over Lost Data?

The BBC has an interesting story about "digital vagabonds", people who have given up traditional analogue posessions in order to live more completely virtual lives.

Reading this with my DCC hat on, the same thought was always with me: Yes, but have they backed it all up?

Turns out some of them hadn't, which has led to the necessity for one data recovery company to employ a former suicide hotline counsellor as their "data crisis counsellor".

Part-psychiatrist and part-tech enthusiast, Ms Chessen's role is to try to calm people down when they lose their digital possessions to failed drives.

"Ms Chessen says some people have gone as far as to threaten suicide over their lost digital possessions and data.

'"It's usually indirect threats like, 'I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I can't get the data back,' but sometimes it will be a direct threat such as, 'I may just have to end it if I can't get to the information'," said Ms Chessen.

High stakes indeed.