5 Years?  That's nothing.

The hackers just posted the Names and Home Adresses of people from a 2001 sweepstakes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/07/sony-removes-data-stolen-hackers_n_858913.html

Seems like it really might of been disgruntled hackers over the Geohotz thing... if they start posting everyones info online.....

Regardless of how guilty others are of having the same bad practice. Doesn't really mean it isn't after all a bad practice. This is a hoarding mindset if there ever was one. The notion that there is a non zero chance that this data might be of any use years or decades later. So they should hold on to it in spite of  the fact that it is basically a liability. The small chance of some imagined value in no way exceeds what it costs to keep. In this case there really is no reason at all however beyond just being too lazy to hit a delete key.

Sony after all only guarantees account maintainance for two years upon cancellation. Beyond the fact that after five years it is highly unlikely that a customer will come back. There is nothing for them to return to activate. The account is gone. The character is gone. The customer would have to start from scratch. Which means you do not need the data.

The only use Sony found for this data was to send me the email telling me that the data had been accessed by hackers. Anyway other companies that do the same aren't terribly bright either. All it can become after so long is a problem. In the case of Sony one that is probably going to cost them millions of dollars. So it still is another security issue.