Why is unstructured data considered risky?

The big issue is uncertainty: we don’t know what is in there.

Most content sitting in structured databases started life as unstructured, as a result of conversation/phone call/email/forms. This original unstructured data is still sitting there – somewhere – potentially discoverable and evidential. It may contain sensitive personal data, e.g. relating to medical records/religious beliefs/finances/children. It is in your system. If your system gets hacked, that information is out in the wild. This can – especially if not appropriately secured – result in breaking the law. Not knowing potentially opens you up to litigation especially if there is a “smoking gun” document in your system.

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