These can range from creating a document, making a telephone call, to conducting an online chat. It is information that is generated as you use technology, and lets you know the who, what, where, when, and how of a variety of activities. Simply put, metadata is data that provides information about other data. Building on this past OPC work, this paper seeks to provide a technical analysis of what metadata can reveal and an overview of how the courts have interpreted metadata. As well, in May 2013, the OPC published a research report entitled What an IP Address Can Reveal About You Footnote 2 that highlighted how knowledge of subscriber information, such as phone numbers and IP addresses, can provide a starting point to compile a picture of an individual's online activities. In July 2006, we issued a Fact Sheet entitled The Risks of Metadata Footnote 1. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has previously discussed the privacy implications of metadata. There are already a number of sources that touch on what "metadata" is and what it can reveal. We continue to see notable individuals and various organizations taking the view that metadata is to be distinguished from actual communications content, and is therefore less worthy of privacy protection. While such data may be created and used lawfully in both the public and private sector subject to appropriate legal restrictions and conditions, there appears to be an enduring debate as to what metadata is, what it can reveal and how it should be treated in the absence of an express statutory provision. Metadata collection programs in the United States and Canada have recently been the subject of much media discussion. Infographic: What is Metadata? IntroductionĪ number of recent events in Canada and elsewhere have raised questions about whether and how certain government agencies are collecting and using metadata in the course of their activities.
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