Fable
Carry only the luggage needed to cross the bridge
There was a narrow bridge at the mountain pass, and before crossing, the bridge keeper had to register travelers. The new keeper was diligent, asking name, address, ancestral home, number of people in the household, income, medical history, even where they planned to eat dinner. He felt that more information would always come in handy someday.
Travelers lined up in long queues and began to feel uneasy. Some were only crossing the bridge to go to market, so why did they have to hand over their medical history? Some were only delivering goods, so why did they have to leave their children's names? The bridge keeper explained that asking everything made it easier to investigate disputes. The words sounded thoughtful, but they turned every person into a thick page.
The old bridge keeper showed him the register: the more materials there were, the harder they were to keep, the greater the harm from leaks, and the more errors occurred. Crossing the bridge really only required confirming three things: whether passage was allowed today, whether the vehicle was overweight, and whether dangerous goods were being carried.
They redesigned the registration. For pedestrians, only passage time and number of people were recorded; for freight vehicles, only weight and hazardous materials were checked; tolls were recorded only when a ticket number was needed; information that was not needed was not asked for, and if asked, it was not retained. If new purposes arose later, they would explain them anew rather than collecting every possibility in advance.
The new bridge keeper was still a little uneasy and secretly kept the old register in the cabinet. Once the cabinet door got damp, and several pages of travelers' family matters were blown onto the tea stall. There was no accident on the bridge, but people were hurt first. Only then did he realize that keeping extra materials also creates new responsibilities.
After the first overhaul, the line moved faster, but some complained that there were fewer clues during investigations. The old bridge keeper clarified responsibilities: if a certain type of passage truly needs tracking, state the purpose and set a time limit; ordinary crossings must not be recorded long-term because of this. Taking less is not laziness; it is limiting records to what the current task requires.
The bridge did not become less safe; instead, it became smoother. The bridge keeper understood that materials one cannot obtain will not be misused or leaked; true restraint is asking clearly why it is needed before wanting to ask for more.
Later, when other passes came to learn the rules, the new bridge keeper said the hardest part was not asking fewer questions, but resisting the thought that "it might be useful later." Every extra line written meant one more responsibility for custody, explanation, and remediation. A narrow bridge should manage passage; it should not casually take on an entire life.