Exploring Privacy and Security as Drivers for Environmental Sustainability in Cloud-Based Office Solutions (Extended Abstract)

TL;DR

This study investigates how privacy and security features in cloud-based office solutions influence their environmental impact, focusing on energy consumption and carbon emissions, and develops assessment tools for greener service design.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic approach to evaluate the environmental footprint of online services, linking service architecture and business models to sustainability outcomes.

Findings

Identified greener web-mail services on the user-side

Developed tools for environmental assessment of online services

Initial measurements do not conclusively support the hypothesis

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of privacy, cybersecurity, and environmental impacts, specifically energy consumption and carbon emissions, in cloud-based office solutions. We hypothesise that solutions that emphasise privacy and security are typically "greener" than solutions that are financed through data collection and advertising. To test our hypothesis, we first investigate how the underlying architectures and business models of these services, e.g., monetisation through (personalised) advertising, contribute to the services' environmental impact. We then explore commonly used methodologies and identify tools that facilitate environmental assessments of software systems. By combining these tools, we develop an approach to systematically assess the environmental footprint of the user-side of online services, which we apply to investigate and compare the influence of service design and ad-blocking technology on the emissions of common web-mail services. Our measurements of a limited selection of such services does not yet conclusively support or falsify our hypothesis regarding primary impacts. However, we are already able to identify the greener web-mail services on the user-side and continue the investigation towards conclusive assessment strategies for online office solutions.