What is “metadata” and why does my business care about it?
First, we need to define “metadata,” as the term is used everywhere but not always understood. Simply stated, metadata are data about data or information about data. Translated into useful terms for business, it is information tied to most digital forms of statistics, documents, intelligence, or other data in your computers and digital devices - metadata tells the detailed life story of information you possess and/or created. For example, when you write a document in Word, the metadata behind that document can reflect all the changes made to the document over time, such as the date you created the document and what alterations you made to the text from creation up to the document’s current edition. The wise practice is to assume that all digital information contains metadata, including emails, VoIP communications, and text messages.
So, now we know what metadata are, but why should a business care about it? Because metadata are discoverable during litigation. In other words, your opponent may get far more information from your files than you intended or anticipated (or you may get a gift from the opposing party), information that can severely damage your case. Examples include changes in specific items (names of people/businesses, dates, or dollar amounts) or sections of text (such as sentences, clauses, and phrases). The lesson here is that it pays to control your metadata because it can harm your case.
