Posted: 6/12/2013 8:21:06 AM EDT
|
from wikipedia:
"The term metadata refers to "data about data". The term is ambiguous, as it is used for two fundamentally different concepts (types). Structural metadata is about the design and specification of data structures and is more properly called "data about the containers of data"; descriptive metadata, on the other hand, is about individual instances of application data, the data content. In this case, a useful description would be "data about data content" or "content about content" thus metacontent."
a. Means of creation of the data
b. Purpose of the data c. Time and date of creation d. Creator or author of the data e. Location on a computer network where the data were created f. Standards used I would argue that the items above are already well beyond the limit of metadata and are into the data realm. The owner of this information knows the following for example: a. John Q. creates data with: a cellphone, a PC, a debit card, and so on...
b. (presuming the data owner doesn't yet record the purpose) c. John Q. has this temporal pattern of sending data. d. (John Q.) e. John Q has this spatial pattern of sending data. Combined with c. the data owner would know a full temporal-spatial data sending pattern. f. John Q. sends data that is clear text, etc. from this place at these times... But even if you accept that the above are only "metadata" notice how they are what I would term "single point data". The information relates only to the item itself. If John Q makes an unusual departure from his pattern that could be easily discovered from what we're being told is mere "metadata". My understanding is that the data gathered by our intelligence agencies included connection information, the data about the two (or more) points being connected in a communication. With this additional information the capability of scrutiny is vastly greater. Imagine this data was collected in the years from 1774 to 1776. How would that have impacted the American Revolution? |