The devil’s in the metadata

Careful analysis of information contained in electronic documents but hidden from the ordinary user can prove extremely valuable when investigating fraud or contesting litigation. Simon Dawson , Head of Corporate Investigations at The Risk Advisory Group Limited takes a close look at data imprints.

Simon Dawson can be contacted on tel: +44 (0) 20 7578 0003; email: simon.dawson@riskadvisory.net

What is metadata?

Quite simply it is data about data. In the context of electronic documents, metadata is information about the document that is routinely recorded by the software that created it but which is not shown on the face of the document.