It is the sound, from hundreds of fans cooling hundreds of computer servers, of the digital past being kept alive. This is the Internet Archive, the largest collection of archived web pages in the world and a constant reminder of the fragility of our digital past. As a scholar of digital data, I know that not all data loss — the corrosion and destruction of our digital past — is tragic. But much data loss today occurs in ways that are deeply unjust and that have monumental implications for both culture and politics. Understanding these forces is a critical step toward managing, mitigating and ultimately controlling data loss and, with it, the conditions under which our societies remember and forget.

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Persons: Brewster Kahle, Kahle Locations: San Francisco