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If we can grab and store it now, today’s researchers can use it to explore how our culture and society are developing, while their successors will find it invaluable in understanding our times retrospectively.\n\nAs an example, consider the study of recent elections in the Global North. It is impossible to make sense of the campaigns and results without understanding how social media has affected how people form their world-views. But there is no systematic archiving of this data — certainly not in forms that offer accessibility and permanence. Much of the history of computing and the web has already been lost, trapped on degrading and inaccessible media, discarded by corporate fiat or never stored in the first place. \n\nSo how, in the digital age, do we curate our history and give it permanence? To date, most of the work done has focused on simply archiving the material. Websites disappear all the time, and hacking interventions or high-level decisions can cause government bodies or companies to lose or discard years’ worth of data. That makes it important for us to capture all of this material now — we can start to think about what we do with it once it is safely stored.\n\nThere is already a substantive archive of digital material in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which started archiving the web in late 1996, and many national memory institutions also have significant web archives. But there are other things to capture, such as social media, emails, memes — plus the algorithms that select which content gets delivered. Ideally, our archives would include not just the communication itself, but how it was shared, used and reused. Only then can we really start to think about how it might have affected people's behaviours, experiences and futures. \n\nWith social media, there is the dynamic aspect to consider. Capturing a post at a time when it has only been liked twice, before it goes viral, means you haven't really captured its meaning and context at all. There is good work under way here: for example, Valérie Schafer at the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, University of Luxembourg, led a team aiming to find ways to archive such virality, capturing memes and the ways in which they circulate, so that we can understand more about how information and ideas are distributed in the digital age.\n\nThere are many challenges facing the field — including legal issues. In many countries, national libraries’ and archiving institutions’ web-archiving activities are conducted on the basis of legal deposit legislation, which gives a sound legal footing on which to crawl the web and to store contents without having to ask permission. Such legislation doesn’t exist in some countries, however, meaning that archiving is only possible where permission has been granted, making its scope very limited. In other cases the legislation treats an archived web page as if it were a physical book — a single object that two people can’t both access simultaneously, even though it was once accessible to any and all on the public internet. Some workarounds do exist: researchers based in a Danish research institution can apply to have remote access to an archive held at the Royal Danish Library, for example. But the web is largely archived — with the exception of the Internet Archive — on a national domain basis. \n\nPrivacy laws add a layer of complexity to the storage of web archives and emails. The UK National Archives is doing interesting work to try to make sure that personal information can be stripped out so that the records can be opened up to the public at the appropriate time; this might be relevant to the archiving of digital culture. Often, though, people simply aren’t aware that their online presence is being preserved as part of a national heritage, and we need to find ways to make sure we aren’t showcasing people who don’t want to be put on display. We also need to make sure that such records come from diverse sources and represent a broad swathe of our societies. \n\nAnother challenge is in the infrastructure required to archive our digital existences. The cloud-based storage requirements for the petabytes of data are huge and growing, and ever more video and audio streaming means that this will continue to mushroom. The costs of storing all this are environmental as well as financial, and in practice we need to consider what we're choosing to store, especially since there can be a huge amount of duplication. Indexing and discoverability is a significant challenge for digital archiving, especially when multiple copies or versions of web pages are being stored. How do we differentiate between them and make accessing specific data easier — while also appending metadata about how and when it was created, used and shared?\n\nIt may well be that, suitably directed, AI is able to perform some of the detailed analysis work required for this. But AI is also an object of study in itself. Just as historians study the industrial revolution through its objects and artefacts, we are beginning to study the similarly disruptive revolution that AI will bring. But we need to understand the infrastructures that are delivering AI, as well as the information it processes and how those processes are shaped by algorithms. That means creating frameworks for the archiving of what Richard Sandford at University College London has described as algorithmic heritage, among other endeavours. \n\nAll of this means there is a need for programmers and other skilled technologists in this area. The Portuguese web archive has just completed a technical initiative which has reanimated Flash-based websites, which had been abandoned after the technology became obsolete, for instance. Many more such projects will be required if we are to store a truly representative set of digital artefacts. That includes learning how to preserve and work with  “hybrid” archives that include hard drives, floppy disks and online data as well as printed and manuscript materials.\n\nThere is also a danger of huge inequities arising in terms of geography and wealth. Web archiving is primarily an activity in and of the global north. When we archive material related to something like the COVID-19 pandemic, for which there was an internationally coordinated set of activities, it is important to ensure that we collect public-health information, news bulletins and so on right from the earliest days of the pandemic and from all around the world — a huge challenge when so much more material is readily accessible for countries in, say, Europe compared with countries in Africa.\n\nNo archive has ever been truly representative: archiving is always shaped by criteria that limit both its scope and its relevance as times change and cultural priorities shift. Digital archives will be no different. But the more thought and resources we can pour into them now, the more grateful future historians — and perhaps future societies — will be.\n\nIt is urgent that we should do this work and do it collectively, drawing on the knowledge and experience of historians, archivists, technologists and data scientists to ensure that at least some of our digital present persists into the digital future. It will be vital to invest in and sustain a community of practice in the next decade, both to effectively globalise born-digital archiving and to develop solutions for emerging digital formats. What will succeed generative AI, for example, and will we be prepared to archive and preserve it when it emerges? By that point, perhaps, we will have been able to combine technological innovation with human skill and imagination to make sense of the vast born-digital archives that document contemporary society and culture. In doing so, we will gain insight into the political, economic, health and environmental challenges that mark the first quarter of the 21<sup>st</sup> century.\n"},"titleRich":{"id":"68afe3051dec39db691bd9c6_titleRich","text":""},"subtitleRich":{"id":"68afe3051dec39db691bd9c6_subtitleRich","text":""},"openGraph":{"title":null,"description":{"plain":"Many people think of the web, email, social media and other forms of digital communication as somewhat ephemeral — certainly not as weighty and solid as the books, letters, buildings and historical artefacts that make up our valued cultural history. 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tank.\n"},"image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1760413449/gesda-platform/site/gesda-radar-website_thumbnail__Screenshot_2025-10-14_at_11.42.59_o2cgxm.png","type":"image/png","thumbnails":{"full":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1760413449/gesda-platform/site/gesda-radar-website_thumbnail__Screenshot_2025-10-14_at_11.42.59_o2cgxm.png"}}}},"termsAndConditions":{"text":""},"privacyPolicy":{"text":"At the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (hereafter referred to as ‘GESDA’), we respect your privacy. We want to ensure that you get the information, content, and experiences that matter most to you. GESDA is committed to protecting the privacy of its stakeholders, communities, and other contacts.\n\n## Scope\n\nThis privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by full-time and part-time employees, volunteers when acting on behalf of GESDA, contractors and partners doing business on behalf of GESDA, as well as all legal entities, all operating locations in all countries, and all business processes conducted by GESDA.\n\n## Information Collected\n\n#### What information do we collect?\n\nGESDA collects the following personal data in line with the use purposes explained in a subsequent section:\n\n  * Your name and contact details\n  * Online profile data/usage\n  * Contact information\n  * Social media profile information\n  * Education and professional information\n  * Registration and participation in GESDA events and activities - Information about service usage\n  * Cookies\n  * Authentication data\n  * Location information\n  * Author and peer review information\n  * Other information you upload or provide to us\n\n#### How do we use your information?\n\nGESDA uses (and, where specified, shares) your personal information for the following purposes:\n\n  * To provide support or other services. GESDA may use your personal information to provide you with support or other services that you have ordered or requested. GESDA may also use your personal information to respond directly to your requests for information, including registrations for webinars, or other specific requests, or pass your contact information to the appropriate GESDA supplier or reseller for further follow-up related to your interests.\n  * To provide information based on your needs and respond to your requests. GESDA may use your personal information to provide you with notices of new product releases and service developments.\n  * To administer products. GESDA may contact you if you make use of (digital) products we offer, to confirm certain information (for example, that you did not experience problems in a download process). We may also use this information to confirm compliance with licensing and other terms of use and may share it with your company/institution.\n  * To assist in your participation in GESDA activities. GESDA will communicate with you, if you are participating in certain GESDA activities such as the GESDA Summit, authoring or reviewing a GESDA article, or GESDA humanitarian activities. GESDA may send you information such as update messages related to those activities (such as but not limited to the event's content, and event logistics)\n  * To update you on relevant GESDA events and opportunities. GESDA may communicate with you regarding relevant GESDA events and opportunities.\n  * To protect GESDA content and services. We may use your information to prevent potentially illegal activities and to enforce our terms and conditions.\n  * To get feedback or input from you. In order to deliver products and services of most interest to our stakeholders, from time to time, we may ask you to provide us input and feedback (for example through surveys).\n\n#### How can you control your information?\n\nYou can control the information we have about you and how we use as follows:\n\n  * If you are a registered guest for the GESDA Annual Summit 2021, any request for review, revise or correction of your personal data can be sent to summit@global.gesda specifying your request.\n\n#### Personal data about minors and children\n\nGESDA does not knowingly collect data from or about children under 16 without the permission of parent(s)/guardian(s). If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under age 16, please contact us.\n\n#### How will you know if the Privacy Policy is changed?\n\nGESDA may update its Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any material changes you will be notified by means of a notice on our website prior on the date the change becomes effective. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.\n\n## Technical And Regulatory Information\n\n#### Logging practices\n\nGESDA automatically records the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of visitors. The IP address is a unique number assigned to every computer on the internet. Generally, an IP address changes each time you connect to the internet (it is a \"dynamic\" address). Note, however, that if you have a broadband connection, depending on your individual circumstance, the IP address that we collect may contain information that could be deemed identifiable. This is because, with some broadband connections, your IP address doesn't change (it is \"static\") and could be associated with your personal computer.\n\nAs well as recording the IP addresses of users, GESDA may also keep track of sites that users visited immediately prior to visiting GESDA's website and the search terms they used to find it. We keep track of the pages visited on GESDA's website, the amount of time spent on those pages and the types of searches done on them. Your searches remain confidential and anonymous. GESDA uses this information only for statistical purposes to find out which pages users find most useful and to improve the website.\nGESDA also captures and stores information that you transmit. This may include:\n\n  * Browser/Device type/version\n  * Operating system used\n  * Media Access Control (MAC) address\n  * Date and time of the server request\n  * Volume of data transferred\n\n#### External links behaviour\n\nSome of the links on GESDA's websites link to other sites created and maintained by other public- and/or private-sector organizations. GESDA provides these links solely for your information and convenience. When you transfer to an outside website, you are leaving the GESDA domain, and GESDA's information management policies no longer apply. GESDA encourages you to read the privacy statement of each external website that you visit before you provide any personal data.\n\n#### Cookies and web beacons\n\nCookies and web beacons are electronic placeholders that are placed on your device by websites to track your individual movements on that website over time. GESDA uses both session-based cookies (which last only for the duration of the user's session) and persistent cookies (which remain on your device and provide information about the session you are in and waits for the next time you use that site again).\n\nThese cookies and web beacons provide useful information to GESDA, enabling us to recognize repeat users, facilitate the user's access to and use of our sites, allows us to track usage behavior, and to balance the usage of our websites on all GESDA web servers.\nTracking cookies, third-party cookies, and other technologies such as web beacons may be used to process additional information, enable non-core functionalities on the GESDA website and enable third-party functions (such as a social media \"share\" link). We may also include web beacons and other similar technology in promotional email messages to determine whether the messages have been opened.\n\n#### Do Not Track (DNT)\n\nThe online advertising industry has self-regulatory initiatives designed to provide consumers a choice in the types of ads they may see online and to conveniently opt-out from online behavioral ads served by some or all of the companies participating in these programs. Our websites do not respond to DNT consumer browser settings.\n\n#### Responses to legal requests\n\nGESDA reserves the right to share your information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law.\n\n#### Your data rights\n\nGESDA complies with all applicable data privacy laws and regulations including, but not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Under these laws and regulations, you may have certain rights to your data. Should you wish to exercise any of these rights, please send an email request to info@gesda.global with \"Data Privacy Request'' in the subject line and in the email please identify the specific privacy right you request assistance with. Please note additional information may be requested prior to fulfilling a request and that GESDA reserves the right to charge a fee, where permitted, to cover the cost of certain requests.\n\n#### How do I contact you if there is an issue?\nIf you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about the use of your personal information, please feel free to contact us by email at info@gesda.global\n\n#### Contact Information\nGeneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) c/o Fondation Campus Biotech\nChemin des Mines 9\n1202 Geneva\n+41 58 201 02 61\ninfo@gesda.global\n"},"welcomeUrl":"https://radar.gesda.global/app/welcome","welcomeTitle":"Welcome to GESDA and thanks for joining us! ","invitationAction":"join the GESDA Radar Website community","setupCompletionMessage":null,"languages":[],"brandColors":[],"showLogin":true,"showShareMenu":null,"showFollowMenu":null,"showPlatformLogin":null,"showContactUs":null,"loginLabel":"Member login","platformLoginLabel":null,"headerButtons":[{"id":"6a8fc65ae69c51827b086a0b","name":"Gesda Public Website link","slug":"gesda-public-website-link","page":null,"label":"Public website","url":"https://www.gesda.global","isDownload":null,"color":null,"icon":null},{"id":"68eda7e8501d12182c0ef374","name":"Ai Modal Button","slug":"ai-modal-button","page":null,"label":"RadarAI","url":null,"isDownload":null,"color":null,"icon":{"id":"6789e346a53c1b39754b99bd","name":"AI Lower Case Icon Glyph","slug":"ai-lower-case-icon-glyph","component":"AiLowerCaseIconGlyph"}}]},"includeProfile":true,"disableProfileEditing":false,"dynamicEntityTypeNames":[],"profilePath":"/app/profile","welcomePath":"/app/welcome","id":"68afe3051dec39db691bd9c6","slug":"the-challenges-of-digital-archiving","entityPath":"/publications/the-challenges-of-digital-archiving","name":"The Challenges of Digital Archiving","openGraph":{"title":null,"date":"2026-09-14T03:14:24.43","description":{"plain":"Many people think of the web, email, social media and other forms of digital communication as somewhat ephemeral — certainly not as weighty and solid as the books, letters, buildings and historical artefacts that make up our valued cultural history. But in fact, these material objects can be lost or destroyed, and while copying offers some protection, it is often laborious and imperfect. \n"},"image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1756357160/gesda-platform/page/the-challenges-of-digital-archiving_thumbnail__TR-1.IC.1_The_Challenges_of_Digital_Archiving_1_vt6io0.webp","type":"image/webp","thumbnails":{"full":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/shapeable/image/upload/v1756357160/gesda-platform/page/the-challenges-of-digital-archiving_thumbnail__TR-1.IC.1_The_Challenges_of_Digital_Archiving_1_vt6io0.webp"}}}},"entityTypeName":"Page","updated":"2026-09-14T03:14:24.43","__type":"Page"}},
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