Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on December 12, 2019. Updated and republished on January 11, 2021.
Bad data is typically categorized as erroneous, duplicative, personal or sensitive in nature, but there's more to it than that. Bad data can also be defined as anything that is stored in an outdated or non-functional legacy software, kept for the purposes of record keeping. Whether it’s the nature of its contents or how it’s being stored, most organizations are increasingly faced with managing the complexities of bad data. What’s worse, the practice of retaining dirty data can cost organizations billions of dollars each year if they are in violation of information and data management policies and procedures.