Here I go again, going off about terabytes.

First off, here's the headline for today. The Israeli-based company, Mempile, has announced it has developed a new DVD that will hold a full terabyte of data. It's the same size as a DVD, just slightly thicker. I won't go into the science of it all. But Ars Technica has a great write-up explaining how it works, if you are so inclined.

The most important part of this announcement is the idea of a full terabye of information on a DVD. Earlier this year, Hitachi announced it was launching the first terabyte-sized hard drive for a desktop PC. Then just a few months ago, Fujitsu up'ed the ante announcing a terabyte-sized hard drive on a laptop.

Now we're talking about all that information on a mere DVD. This may sound like great news as you contemplate a DVD that would hold not just one James Bond movie, but all of them. But from a security point of view, this sounds like a nightmare to me.

Just this week in my home state of Connecticut everyone is buzzing about the stolen laptop of a State Department of Revenue employee. The laptop contained the tax records of more than a 100,000 people, including their social security numbers. It wasn't even encrypted.

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Just because you can store that much data on a laptop, doesn't mean you should!

Think about jewelers for a minute and what a little velvet sack of diamonds might be worth. Do you see jewelry store employees schlepping around town and airports with a bag of diamonds? Of course not, high end jewels don't go anywhere without an armed escort in an armoured truck. Perhaps the tax records of a 100,000 people should require the same protocol.

Now back to this DVD that holds a terabyte of data. That's 50,000 trees worth of paper! Imagine all of that on a disc small enough to slip in a pocket. Mempile doesn't expect to have these little guys ready for market before 2009. But you can bet when they do, an armed escort will not be included in the sale.