Thread

1. stingraycharles · 1790769649 · focus · HN ↗

   Playing the devil’s advocate: don’t “freedom of information” laws mostly apply to government agencies? If so, why would a private company provide this information?

   I personally believe at the very least the water usage is heavily overblown compared to the agriculture industry. Elecricity is a different issue, and governments should consider reporting requirements or something like that.

   Being angry with datacenter providers is not the solution. And they also need to be built somewhere, and that place is probably best where electricity is abundant and/or cheap.

   1. GuB-42 · 1790776301 · focus · HN ↗

      > If so, why would a private company provide this information?

      Because the law says they have to.

      Water usage in terms of total volume is meaningless and certainly an overblown concern on a global scale. In fact, it is not a concern at all on a global scale, but it can be a local problem. If a datacenter uses water normally intended for households and the infrastructure is not designed for this, it is definitely a problem. And that's a good reason for having to report water usage, not just to punish them, but also to plan distribution accordingly.

      1. stronglikedan · 1790778771 · focus · HN ↗

         > Because the law says they have to.

         That isn't a good reason for them to do so. Laws need to be enforced to be effective. If no one is going to make them disclose the info, then the smart move it to just not do it, as they are.

         1. alwa · 1790779937 · focus · HN ↗

            My private company complies with laws that make sense to us and also with laws that we find annoying. We do that because we prefer the efficiencies and benefits of living in a high-trust society, and part of that is behaving that way ourselves.

            “Smart” in a selfish way, but not in a bigger-picture kind of way.

            I’d rather spend tax money on bridges (or tax rebates) than on bankrolling a muscular cadre of enforcers on the assumption that laws are meaningless and everyone will cheat without a cop breathing down their neck.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.