Question

The term “data rot” refers to

Answer 1

It's the gradual corruption of data due to non-critical failures in the data storage area.

Answer 2

Data Rot can be defined as :

Data degradation or data rot is the gradual corruption of computer data due to an accumulation of non-critical failures in a data storage device. The phenomenon is also known as data decay, data rot or bit rot.

The damage depends on the importance of the information in the first place.