Protect Data Against an EMP

[Dreadnaught]

I have a closet with old boxes pf papers, so I'm scanning tons of old stuff to get rid of them. I will then put a child in that closet and convince the child that 2 feet by 3 feet is an acceptable bedroom.

But all this scanning makes me think about data portability, readability and survivability. I use cloud backups, but will always also keep a local backup. For that local backup, how would you suggest protecting it both against an EMP and ordinary hard drive breakage? I use a new HD every ~3 years just as a precaution. But researching the EMP thing brings me to a fever swamp of survivalist forums who proscribe creating faraday cages from tinfoil ( ) or just keeping the backup drive unplugged.

Does anyone here have any thoughts on this?

[Khendraja'aro]

That you're even considering protecting against an EMP shows that you've not done your research properly.

Don't bother. In case an EMP is actually a scenario you have to worry about and comes to pass, in that case not one single fuck will be given about your electronic documents.

Get a fireproof safe, shove the important papers in there and that's it.

Paper is "EMP proof" by default.

[Dreadnaught]

I already have a fireproof safe with important documents. But the number of other things I find important is massive, including thousands of digital photos.

I realize an actual EMP or solar flare would have huge consequences and provoke a scramble to survive. I'd like to think beyond that to a world where I could possibly once again access important photos and scans. So what would you do?

[Khendraja'aro]

Then use a medium that's not subject to such things. DVD or BluRay.

[Ominous Gamer]

Off site backup. If something hits thats massive enough to fry both locations you aren't going to worry about reminiscing over thousands of digitals photos (seriously, who does that even now?). If they are legal docs then digital versions aren't going to mean jack shit, legally.

[Wraith]

Maybe he figures that once the EMP hits, the guy who still has a huge functional library of porn will be king.

[Khendraja'aro]

Considering that the devices to view said porn will likely be fried to hell and gone, I'm not sure that the paper version wouldn't be preferrable as well.

[Wraith]

So it's settled then: he needs a faraday cage for his porn-filled iPad. Probably should stick a roll of cellophane in there too - just in case it's hard to come by in the post-apocalyptic future.

[Aimless]

Safest to just tattoo the binary code onto your body.

[Steely Glint]

Who has Dread annoyed enough that he thinks they're going to attack him with an EMP pulse?

[EmperorNorton]

Space Nazis.

[GGT]

Dread, maybe store those digital photos on thumb drives, put them in your fire-proof safe, and ditch the cloud?

While the other replies are cute and funny, preserving old photos is serious business. I doubt that professional archivists are relying on the cloud for backup.

[Dreadnaught]

Considering that the devices to view said porn will likely be fried to hell and gone, I'm not sure that the paper version wouldn't be preferrable as well.

You somehow have a more pessimistic view of the future. I imagine society can rebuild in the face of catastrophe.