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Sunday, 9 April 2023

'Dedollarisation' is feasible

 

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 “This is all part of a broader discussion of possibilities for reducing the use of the dollar. This discussion is not new and has happened in the past but it appears to be more serious now and the actual changes are taking place,” - Prof Geoffrey William

Of late, the hot topic that is rapidly gaining pace is many countries, including Malaysia, are mulling the idea of reducing their trade dependency on the US dollar.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also lent heavy support to the thought of reducing Malaysia’s dependency on the greenback in terms of attracting foreign direct investments into the country, as well as in bilateral trades not involving the United States.

This came as Anwar announced on Tuesday that investments worth about RM170bil by China-based companies would be kicking off next month.

The prime minister has also last week proposed the setting up of an Asian Monetary Fund (AMF), stressing the need to lower reliance on the greenback as well as the US-backed International Monetary Fund (IMF), an idea that he himself reported has been well received by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is open to discussing its implementation.

According to Geoffrey Williams, economics professor at Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST), what Anwar was saying is in line with a growing group of international leaders seriously questioning the role of the dollar and the US/European Union systems, hence the prime minister’s comment is a change of tone with possible action points.

“This is all part of a broader discussion of possibilities for reducing the use of the dollar. This discussion is not new and has happened in the past but it appears to be more serious now and the actual changes are taking place,” Williams told StarBiz.

He concurred with Anwar’s view that bilateral trade between two nations could use the currencies of the countries involved instead of the dollar, calling it “feasible” and is in fact growing in popularity.

“Most commodities are priced and traded in dollars but direct sale of oil between Russia and China as well as India is circumventing that arrangement.

“There is an increasing probability this will extend to more countries and more commodities,” Williams said.

Some parties have even suggested that Anwar may not be taking any sides in the global balance of power between China and the United States, despite his preference for dollar independence.

However, uneasiness remains on the geopolitical implications of the suggested move and how it will affect relationships between countries such as Malaysia and the United States as well as its allies.

While acknowledging such concerns, Williams said: “At the moment, many countries are understandably questioning whether the dollar dominance is beneficial to them and if better exchange arrangements could be found.”

Meanwhile, economist and chief executive at Centre for Market Education, Dr Carmelo Ferlito, said that while countries can ponder over better options in a multipolar world, alternatives need to be weighed in with painstaking care.

Ferlito said the appearance of the euro in 1999 was met with a warm welcome since it forced the dollar to face a competitor characterised by stronger monetary discipline, and that the emergence of something new in the East, if properly conceived, could strengthen the path towards monetary stability.

However, he added: “If global currency competition were to move in the right direction, the path will remain incomplete without an actual competition between currencies within countries.

“A competition that enables individuals to choose the currency to be used for their daily transactions, favouring the emergence of a virtuous competition among currencies toward stability.

“Our point is thus that the new and vibrant developments in the international monetary scene can be a source of benefit – rather than spawn geopolitical tension – only if accompanied by a true opening of national economies to competition among available currencies. 

A novel Asean or BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) currency could become a strong alternative

“In this way, a novel Asean or BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) currency could become a strong alternative not as the result of a political will of power but simply as a consequence of market competition.”

On the setting up of an AMF, MUST’s Williams said such an idea is definitely attainable but would require participation across many Asian countries, especially to provide the finance and to agree to the terms on which access to that finance is made available.

As such, he remarked that it is not just a financial matter but also a geopolitical one.

“The main issue is who will fund the AMF and what will be the contribution rates for each member.

“It is likely that most will come from China, unless Japan and South Korea joins in. Otherwise most Asian countries are too small to contribute much.

“Ultimately, this will be driven by economic cost-benefit considerations and whether non-aligned countries like Malaysia can maintain good relationships with all parties without using the dollar,” he noted.

On the other hand, the move to bilateral currencies for trade and investment between two countries, while feasible, would be more at risk to exchange fluctuations and liquidity issues, Williams said, adding that this could be improved by a switch to multiple currency options.

Of note, and on something that has not been touched by Anwar, the economics professor said the dollar still provides stable, reliable and secure financial systems such as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

“Cybersecurity is essential and the questions of geopolitical stability also arise but these may not be solved by breaking up international systems into smaller regional systems,” he said.

There certainly has been an influx of recent activities geared towards reducing the use of the dollar in international trade, such as the discussions between Brazil and Argentina to create a common currency or Saudi Arabia declaring its openness to trade in other currencies other than the greenback for the first time in 48 years.

But the fact that the International Monetary Fund data shows central banks worldwide are still holding about 60% of their foreign exchange reserves in dollars as at the fourth quarter of 2022 literally means it is extremely unlikely the currency would be losing its status as the global reserve unit anytime soon. 

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Crisis jolts Wall Street bankers

 

Crisis jolts Wall Street bankers already resigned to tough ...

 https://www.thesundaily.my/business/crisis-jolts-wall-street-bankers-already-resigned-to-tough-job-market-LK10837950

 

UPDATE 1-Crisis jolts Wall Street bankers already ...

 

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Abuse of hegemony is why de-dollarisation is trending 

 

China, Brazil to trade in local currencies

China, Brazil to trade in local currencies
DUMPING U.S. Bonds for Gold! China Openly Fights the Dollar, PROMOTING the Oil-Yuan. China is accelerating its de-dollarization efforts in t...
 
  
 DUMPING U.S. Bonds for Gold! China Openly Fights the Dollar, PROMOTING the Oil-Yuan.
 

Sell your US asset & leave before too late – it is your money, 决战, 请务必离开美国 

Break free of US dollar hegemony: What’s next?

  The strong dollar should not become a sharp blade to cut the world, THE NEED FOR BRETTON WOODS III

 

Whither the ringgit? US Inflation & workforce are the bigger problems

 

 

Southeast Asia, too, is losing patience with King Dollar’s clout

 Southeast Asia, too, is losing patience with King Dollar’s clout

 

When Will the U.S. Dollar Collapse?


 
 
 

 

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Thursday, 6 April 2023

How dangerous are India’s generic drugs? Very

 

India relies on the weak oversight of developing countries that make up the bulk of its exports – that’s how it can continue to push substandard and often deadly medicines there. — Bloomberg

 

FOR a nation that seeks to claim the mantle of “pharmacy to the world,” India is scandalously short on regulatory oversight.

In the last six months, its generic cough syrups have killed dozens of children, its eye drops have caused blindness and its chemotherapy drugs have been contaminated.

The children who died – mostly under the age of five years – were given Indian-made over-the-counter products contaminated with industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that are fatal in even small amounts.

The eye drops that contained extensively drug-resistant bacteria? So far 68 patients across 16 US states have been affected. Three people died, several had to have their eyeballs removed, some went blind, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported on March 21.

The Indian company, Global Pharma Healthcare, issued a voluntary nationwide recall for the drops. India is the largest provider of generic medicines, producing 20% of the world’s supply, according to the government’s Economic Survey.

Its US$50bil (RM220bil) drug-manufacturing industry exports medicines to over 200 nations and makes 60% of all vaccines. It boasts “the highest number” of US Food and Drug Administration or FDA-compliant plants outside America, and indeed, some of its generic pharmaceutical companies produce high-quality medicines.

That may well provide consumers with a level of comfort, but history suggests it is unwise to trust that feeling.

The latest drug recalls just add to a long line of scandals that have tainted the sector.

In 2013, a US subsidiary of major Indian drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd pleaded guilty to US federal criminal charges and agreed to pay US$500mil (RM2.2bil) lion for selling adulterated generic drugs, fabricating data, and committing fraud. Serious flaws in the FDA compliance regime allowed these breaches to go undiscovered, until a years-long investigation laid bare the endemic corruption.

A generic drug made in India and modelled on Lipitor sold in the US to treat high cholesterol, for example, was contaminated with shards of blue glass, as journalist Katherine Eban documented in her book, Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom. Her book draws in part on the experience of whistleblower Dinesh Thakur, who worked at Ranbaxy.

You would think such a damning indictment would prompt India to develop a safer, better pharmaceutical oversight regime. Think again.

The systemic fraud exposed by the investigation – where data was routinely falsified to fool inspectors, increase production and maximise profit – did not result in a regulatory overhaul.

Still, a two-day “brainstorming session” held in February appeared to acknowledge the system’s inherent weaknesses, with Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya telling participants India needed to “move from generic to quality-generic drugs.”

Discussions involved “how to make the country’s drugs regulatory systems transparent, predictable and verifiable,” according to a health ministry media release.

Consumers shouldn’t hold their breath, though. A national law on drug recalls has been under discussion since 1976 without resolution, and the government – at least publicly –remains in denial: Since the Ranbaxy scandal, Thakur has campaigned for the reform of India’s main regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, and, with lawyer T. Prashant Reddy, has written his own book, The Truth Pill: The Myth of Drug Regulation in India, which was published in October.

They note that adulterated Indian drugs aren’t just killing children in developing-world export markets like Gambia and Uzbekistan. They’re also killing children at home: In 2019, at least 11 infants died in the state of Jammu because of cough syrup containing diethylene glycol. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) sent alerts in October and January, asking for the cough medicine to be removed from the shelves. (It also issued a warning last year for cough syrups made by four Indonesian manufacturers sold in that country, where 203 children died in similar circumstances.)

Maiden Pharmaceuticals, whose medicines were sold in Gambia and linked by the WHO to the deaths of at least 70 children, has denied wrongdoing. And India’s regulator rejected the WHO’s findings, saying no toxic substances had been found in samples taken from Maiden’s plant. 

It shouldn’t have taken more deaths for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration to act. The red flags have been there for years. What’s lacking is political will, and transparency. The FDA publishes different reviews of new drug applications on its website, along with detailed notes. 

So why does contamination with such deadly substances occur so regularly?

“The simple answer is that Indian pharmaceutical companies quite often fail to test either the raw materials or the final formulation before shipping it to market,” Thakur said.

India relies on the weak oversight of developing countries that make up the bulk of its exports – that’s how it can continue to push substandard and often deadly medicines there.

In the absence of a global framework for pharmaceutical safety, what can be done to make the generic drugs that consumers around the world have come to rely on safer and effective?

For a start, the WHO’s prequalification programme, which facilitates the purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of medicines through international agencies such as Unicef, must be overhauled. Then there’s the question of holding these companies to account for the harm they cause inside and outside India via legal avenues and victims’ compensation. — Bloomberg 

- Ruth Pollard is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.

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India’s still long way off from reducing dependence on China for drug ingredients: Experts

India’s still long way off from reducing dependence on China... 

 https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2023/04/06/indias-still-long-way-off-from-reducing-dependence-on-china-for-drug-ingredients-experts
 

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Wednesday, 5 April 2023

Who is more intelligent and successful, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad or Mr. Lee Kuan Yew (Malaysia vs Singapore)? Why?

 

  Mr. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia

To compare Mahathir with Mr Lee is like placing a pig next to a lion. The short answer is: No Comparison! Let me explain my reasons.

After 55 years after these 2 men become PM of the respective country, Mr Lee left behind a legacy of democracy, progress, dynamism and true success for Singaporeans and the nation Singapore. On the other hand, Mahathir has broken Malaysia into multiple segments of people - divided by race, religion, economic status - mistrusting and suspicious of each other. Economically 70% of Malaysians are poor except all his 7 children are billionaires in Ringgit terms.

At a personal level, all Mr Lee’s children attended and graduated from top notch universities in the USA or UK and qualified as professionals. On the other hand, all Mahathir attended 2nd or 3rd tier institutions in these countries but never work for a day yet became billionaires. How?? They received parts of the money Mahathir looted from the country’s coffers.

How they are remembered by their country men and women. Singaporeans - even those who dislike Mr Lee’s policies - recognized that the man has been good to Singapore. Conversely, Mahathir has confirmed himself a unreformed racist, self-centred street level political manipulator who destroyed Malaysia. 

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https://www.quora.com › Who-is-more-intelligent-and-s...


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Quora is a social question-and-answer website and online knowledge market headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was founded on June 25, 2009, and made available to the public on June 21, 2010. Users can collaborate by editing questions and commenting on answers that have been submitted by other users.Wikipedia

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China, Brazil to trade in local currencies, dump US dollar !

DUMPING U.S. Bonds for Gold! China Openly Fights the Dollar, PROMOTING the Oil-Yuan.

China is accelerating its de-dollarization efforts in three key areas: local currency settlement, petrodollars, and converting U.S. debt into gold. Additionally, the Abuse Of The Dollar's Monetary Status and the Federal Reserve's irresponsible monetary policies have prompted several countries worldwide to switch from the dollar to other currencies. This is one reason why several landmark de-dollarization announcements have emerged in recent weeks. 

Among these announcements, Brazil has entered into an agreement with China whereby the two countries can now settle trades using either the Yuan or the real, excluding the dollar. China and France have also completed their first LNG trade in Yuan, ending European countries' dependence on petrodollars. Meanwhile, at a meeting in Indonesia, ASEAN finance ministers and central bank governors prioritized de-dollarization and chose to use their national currencies for cross-border payment settlements. Indonesia suggested abandoning the use of a dollar-dominated payment system and instead using credit cards issued by local banks to enhance the independence and security of financial transactions and prevent the adverse effects of instrumentalizing the dollar. Malaysia, which has abundant oil reserves, even proposed a pan-Asian gold-backed currency to replace the U.S. dollar among Southeast Asia, as gold is more stable compared to the U.S. dollar.

Gaining recognition: A person holds Chinese yuan banknotes. More economies are willing to use the yuan in clearing and payments, which is a significant step for the Chinese currency to internationalise. — Reuters

 Dump Your USD!!

 

 

Why The World Is Dumping The American Dollar

 Why the World Is Dumping the American Dollar | Vantage with Palki Sharma. China and Brazil have struck a deal to trade in their local currencies instead of the US dollar. They joined a long list of countries including Saudi Arabia, Kenya and India. Why is the world attempting to de-dollarise? Palki Sharma decodes
 
 
HAINAN: The Chinese yuan is speeding up in expanding its global use, a trend that will help build a more resilient international monetary system, one that is less dependent on the US dollar and more conducive to trade growth, experts say.

They commented after China and Brazil – two major emerging economies and BRICS members – reportedly reached a deal to trade in their own currencies, ditching the US dollar as an intermediary.

The deal will enable China and Brazil to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging the yuan for reais and vice versa, instead of going through the dollar, Agence France-Presse reported last Wednesday, citing the Brazilian government. The report comes amid the rising global use of the yuan.

China’s first cross-border yuan-settled liquefied natural gas transaction was completed last Tuesday, after the Export-Import Bank of China achieved the first yuan loan cooperation with the Saudi National Bank, the largest bank in Saudi Arabia, earlier this month.

Zhu Min, vice-chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, said the trend is underway that more economies are willing to use the yuan in clearing and payments, which is a “significant step” for the Chinese currency to internationalise and reflects the international community’s growing trust in it.

The financial sanctions adopted by the United States since the start of the Ukraine crisis have triggered a “crisis of confidence” for the dollar to some extent, boosting the global use of other currencies, including the yuan, Zhu said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference.

Zhou Maohua, a macroeconomic analyst at China Everbright Bank, said the use of local currencies in bilateral trade will be a win-win situation for China and Brazil, reducing the risk of exchange rate fluctuations facing foreign trade companies, and thus boosting trade growth.

In February, China and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up yuan-clearing arrangements in Brazil, which is deemed by experts as a necessary infrastructure for the two economies to trade in local currencies.

The arrangements will help the two countries’ enterprises and financial institutions use the yuan for cross-border trade, and facilitate bilateral trade and investment, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

Financial infrastructure associated with the internationalisation of the yuan should be further improved, said Pan Gongsheng, vice-governor of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, in early March.

The nation will further improve its trading and settlement system for cross-border investment and financing using the currency, Pan added.

“I think yuan internationalisation will likely accelerate,” said Hong Hao, chief economist at GROW Investment Group, a China-based global asset management company, underlining that the recent developments indicate that an alternative monetary system outside the US dollar hegemony is being developed. — China Daily/ANN 

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 Related:

How BRICS Is Coming Together To Challenge the US Dollar | Vantage with P... https://youtube.com/shorts/9nHUv48qWzU?feature=share via @YouTube
 Vantage with P... https://youtube.com/shorts/9nHUv48qWzU?feature=share via @YouTube

 https://youtube.com/shorts/9nHUv48qWzU?feature=share

 China sees an upsurge of diplomatic visits

China sees an upsurge of diplomatic visits
China has recently seen an upsurge of visits by political dignitaries of multiple countries to China. See the infographic for more.
 
 
China Xinhua News
@XHNews
China's hyperspectral satellite for Earth observation is now operational after completing in-orbit tests, offering advanced capabilities that combine spectra with images to detect various ground objects and specific atmospheric components xhtxs.cn/Gtu
 
Image

 

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When Will the U.S. Dollar Collapse?

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Always have a backup plan , Don’t hoard data

Save it or lose it

Don’t wait until it’s too late – backing up your digital memories now will ensure that you have the chance to cherish them forever.

 

 


 It’s a mis­con­cep­tion that back­ing up data is a com­plex pro­cess, as there are plenty of user-friendly tools, accord­ing to david. — palo alto net­works

   

San­tam­aria recom­mends dis­con­nect­ing the backup stor­age medium from the inter­net for bet­ter secur­ity. — Folio photon­ics 

 

d’hal­luin says fig­ur­ing out what data needs to be backed up is a top pri­or­ity. — datadobi

 

With everyone logged in to the digital world and with the widespread use of smartphones, it’s surprising how little attention has gone towards preserving digital memories.

to remind everyone of its importance, it was World Backup Day on Friday, March 31, which has been celebrated since 2011.

World Backup Day originated from a Reddit post by a user lamenting the loss of content on a hard drive after having overlooked backing up its data.

if this sounds familiar, consider taking steps to keep your files safe since you never know when they could just disappear, as hardware failure is unpredictable.

Duplicating data

in short, a backup means copying data from a device to another location, be it a thumbdrive, an external hard drive or a cloud service.

But this isn’t limited to just data files, as operating systems can be backed up too so that you have a restore point in case the hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD) it is installed on fails or gets corrupted.

Palo Alto Networks’ Asean system engineering head, David Rajoo, says, “Backing up your data is crucial in today’s digital age, but it’s often overlooked, especially by non-tech-savvy individuals.

“Common misconceptions include thinking that backups are time-consuming and complicated.

“however, incorporating backups into your daily routine or opting for user-friendly solutions can simplify the process.

“it’s vital to consider various storage options as hard drives can fail, resulting in data loss.

“Cloud storage is a popular option, with the added benefit of having remote access and coming with various storage plans,” he says.

Most would be familiar with cloud storage services like Google Drive, which can be used to automatically sync files on a computer or smartphone to the cloud.

there are other alternatives, like Onedrive and Dropbox, which offer free and paid plans, but Drive is one of the more generous ones, offering 15GB at no cost.

this might sound like a lot, but for those with extensive libraries of content like ripped CDS and Blu-rays, that’s definitely not going to be enough.

identifying what’s important before backing up is key, according to Carl D’halluin, chief technology officer of Datadobi.

“Failing to backup your data can have catastrophic consequences, as a single hardware failure, cyberattack, or natural disaster can wipe out all your valuable information, leaving you with no way to recover it.

“this means that years of hard work can all be lost in an instant, with no chance of retrieval.

“identifying the vital data that requires protection should be the first step in the process,” he says.

those primarily using Android smartphones can rely on Google Photos, which syncs images, and icloud for Apple devices, as it’s tightly integrated into the company’s ecosystem.

Modern Android devices also tend to have built-in support for cloud services like Google Drive and Samsung Cloud, though these are limited to files and apps and not the operating system.

those in the custom Android ROM community will be familiar with recovery firmware like TWRP that can be used to create a Nandroid backup to restore the operating system and apps to their previous states.

the same can be said for both MACOS and Windows, though Microsoft hasn’t updated its tool for a long time.

the built-in backup tool is hidden away in the control panel of Windows 10 and 11 and is specifically marked as for Windows 7, with even Microsoft recommending that users shift away from the backup tool.

Popular alternatives among enthusiasts include the free AOMEI Backupper and the paid-only Macrium, which allow users to select a drive (in this case, the one the operating system is installed on) and create a backup image periodically or on demand.

this backup can be used to restore the operating system when the need arises.

Apple’s time Machine can similarly be used to create system images of MACOS, and the process can be scheduled.

An external drive should first be plugged into the Mac and selected as the backup drive – once done, it will be exclusively used to store backups.

the backup, which can be configured in system settings, allows users to select the drives to be backed up, the backup frequency, and exclude files to save space.

Apple recommends that the backup drive have at least double the storage of the drive being backed up.

By the numbers

A popular strategy adopted by the industry is the 3-2-1 backup rule, which was brought up by David.

“When creating a backup strategy that works best for you, it’s important to prioritise which data to back up first.

“the most crucial data to prioritise are the types of data that are difficult or impossible to replace if lost, such as photos and videos of important memories, work documents, and financial data.

“Once you’ve determined which data needs to be backed up first, following the 3-2-1 backup rule is recommended.

“this rule involves having three copies of your data, with two on different media types and one stored offsite,” he says.

For instance, if you own a desktop or laptop, you should back up your data to an external drive and the cloud.

Most external drives are compact and can be had for cheap these days. if money is no object, you could invest in networkattached storage that will also give you remote access to your files, but this also requires more work.

this will ensure that you have a local copy if something goes wrong, allowing you to get your data back in the fastest possible time.

And having your data on the cloud will ensure that your data is safe should you lose both your local storage due to, say, fire or flood.

Leaving the secondary local storage (like an external drive or thumbdrive) disconnected from the internet also serves as an added security measure.

According to Steven Santamaria, CEO of Folio Photonics, a well-designed data protection strategy should look into both physical and digital security to safeguard critical data.

“the most effective data protection strategy should also incorporate a data storage platform that can be securely archived in an offsite location, with the added benefit of being taken offline for even greater security.

“this means that the storage platform is physically separated from the main network and disconnected from the internet, making it resistant to cyberattacks and other forms of data breaches,” he says.

David recommends taking the extra step of encrypting the backup data.

“Although this may seem daunting, many backup services include encryption as part of their package.

“By encrypting your backups, you can protect your data from unauthorised access in the event of theft or loss.

“Ensure your backup data is password-protected, and avoid using simple passwords or commonly guessed words.

“For cloud-based backups, consider using two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security.

“this involves requiring a password and a secondary authentication method, such as a fingerprint or a code sent to your phone,” he says.

he concludes by saying that it’s also vital to ensure that the backups are virusfree by scanning the system with reputable antivirus and anti-malware software before backing up. 

By CHRISTOPHER FAM lifestyletech@thestar.com.my  

Don’t hoard data

 

The digital Cleanup day initiative is intended to get users into the habit of sorting and discarding unwanted data while being mindful of the ‘digital waste’ they are generating. — Freepik.com

Due to cloud services, people can store seemingly infinite amounts of data without worrying about using up physical space on their personal devices.

However, Estonia’s Let’s Do It Foundation wants users to think about the environmental impact of hoarding data.

Last month, it launched the Digital Cleanup Day initiative to get users into the habit of sorting and discarding unwanted data while being mindful of the “digital waste” they are producing.

According to the foundation, “This digital waste creates digital pollution that continues to consume energy even when we have forgotten it.

“Digital trash sits in the backups on servers that provide us with cloud service and continue consuming electricity.”

The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres and data transmission networks are responsible for nearly 1% of energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals listed reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of a crucial measure to lessen the impact of climate change.

It raised concerns that droughts brought on by rising temperatures may displace 700 million people by 2030.

A 2020 report by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) called for the large-scale adoption of environmentally responsible online behaviour, which it said was vital for “combating climate change and promoting sustainability”.

Habits it recommends include deleting non-essential content on cloud services or when the data is no longer needed.

Users should also optimise their cloud storage by identifying and deleting duplicate content – most cloud services either offer tools for this or do it automatically.

On devices like the iphone, the Photos app can be used to find duplicate images and videos.

Tapping on Albums and clicking on Duplicates under Utilities will show the similar files next to each other. This feature is available in IOS 16.

There is also an option to merge duplicates. According to Apple, “merging combines the highest quality version and all the relevant data across the duplicates, and this version will remain in the library”. The remaining duplicates will be put into the Recently Deleted album.

On Android, the Files By Google app has a Clean feature that will scan the phone and recommend content to delete, including large files, old screenshots and downloaded data.

Alternatively, users can archive information on external drives, which don’t run on electricity.

If deletion is not an option, the files can be compressed to save space. Popular tools on the market include Winzip and WINRAR, which allow files to be compressed, although they are better at shrinking the size of some files than others.

The files can also be password protected for additional security. Do note that the compression employed by these apps won’t result in a loss of quality for photos or videos.

Another aspect that users should consider is the carbon footprint of emails.

Statistics on The Carbon Literacy Project show that actions like sending a short email from the phone generate 0.2g of CO2, while taking 10 minutes to send out an email to 100 people is responsible for 26g of CO2.

According to the Let’s Do It Foundation, 281 billion emails are sent out each day, taking an average person three hours a day to refresh, read and reply to work messages.

The foundation felt that it was necessary to limit the ineffective practice of organising work through emails.

To avoid accumulating email messages, it’s best to unsubscribe from irrelevant mailing lists or mark unwanted emails as spam so they get deleted after a set period.

Let’s Do It also recommends that users clean up their Inbox by searching for common names or addresses to round up similar messages and delete them, while only keeping the latest.

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