Definition
Metadata
Data about your data — who, when, where, and how — which can reveal as much as the content itself.
Metadata is the envelope around your communications and files: who contacted whom, at what time, from what location, on which device, and how often. Even when content is encrypted, metadata frequently is not.
Why it matters: patterns in metadata can expose relationships, routines, and identities without anyone reading a single message. Strong privacy protects metadata, not just content.
Related terms
End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) · Data Broker · Risk signal Model