Have you ever stopped to think, really think, about your personal data? How much is there? How far does it reach? Where is it stored? Is it protected?
We often talk about crown jewels and data mapping in the context of corporate information governance. But on a personal level, data is often ignored or overlooked, making it difficult to manage and use when needed.
After a recent struggle to find an important photo on my phone, I started thinking about my own data footprint and lead me to the question: What data do I have? This apparently simple question was the beginning of an in-depth data mapping exercise over my own personal data footprint.
This personal IG project took me across several data sources, how my data was being generated and transferred between devices and if my crown jewels were adequately stored and protected. I have detailed this experiment, and the revelations it provided for data mapping at scale, in a new paper titled, Map your data: How a personal data overhaul can reveal critical information governance lessons. This paper offers practical guidance for conducting a data mapping exercise and aims to make the sometimes complex topic of information governance more accessible to everyone.