[dragonwriter]

> If people are creating software that burns fossil fuels

They aren't. Only hardware burns fossil fuels, and computing hardware doesn't inherently do so, for the most part, only if you choose to hook it up to a fossil fuel power plant rather than something else; the software isn't the thing directly to address.

OTOH, the personal data use you are drawing a poor analogy to is the direct point of concern.

[boredatwork]

I don't want to torture this metaphor any further, but you're kinda proving my point that software developers do not consider the energy and environmental impact of their work. Software that uses significant CPU time uses more electricity and is worse for the environment.

Misuse of personal data is a problem. Wasting electricity is a problem. Online harassment is a problem.

[wsy]

If wasting electricity becomes such a big problem for the society as misuse of personal data already is, sure, let's introduce regulations on that, too.

In some European countries, there are regulations already on how to insulate new buildings to avoid energy waste.

[timtas]

> If wasting electricity becomes such a big problem for the society as misuse of personal data already is, sure, let's introduce regulations on that, too.

Sure, what could go wrong there? Regulator, "We're going to need to look closer at that for-loop to see if it complies. And you do realize that n+1 queries are a violation of EU law?"

[wsy]

Your example is obviously unrealistic, but even when buying it, it rather supports my position. Imagine a regulator indeed pointing out where you can optimize your algorithms and thus save energy, money and achieve faster query processing. What is the problem with that?

Fire safety regulator: "we're going to need to look closer at that door seal glue component to see if it complies...". Nobody complains here about a regulator looking into details.