Even the most techno-phobic attorney likely could recite the often-used definition of metadata: “data about data.” However, there are important ethical and practical components to metadata of which every practitioner should be aware.

Metadata refers to a wide spectrum of data contained in, or associated with, electronic files. On a basic level, metadata may include such information as the author, date created or date modified, as well as user-embedded comments or tracked changes within the content of a document. From a more technical perspective, there are many categories of metadata, including, for example, document metadata, application metadata and user-added metadata. There are many useful resources that provide guidance to better understand metadata. See The Sedona Conference Glossary: E-Discovery & Digital Information Management (4th ed. April 2014), https://thesedonaconference.org/download-pub/3757 (last visited Apr. 7, 2015).

To the untrained,metadata is hidden and unknown, but to competent computer-users, knowledge and access to metadata is well-known and sometimes only a “click” or two away. While metadata can be mundane, in some instances it may reveal significant probative information or information that is sensitive, confidential or privileged, and it can dramatically increase the complexity of discovery. As such, it presents a serious concern for attorneys both ethically and practically.