Like a million cogs in a warehouse, it costs money to store customer data. Storage costs can quickly overwhelm the value of the stored product. These costs can be lower for improper storage - not wrapping cogs can lead them to rust, and not encrypting data can lead it to being stolen. Financial documents should reflect the risks of storing data, to communicate this liability to shareholders and others.

"We are storing PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on 100 million Americans. A data leak could lead to significant material damages, from settlements to an impaired public reputation."