What exactly IS "metadata"?

[Griff]

Inspired by the latest CSEC scandal on airport WiFi spying in Canada, I thought I'd look in to what actually defines "Metadata".

I found this excellent primer on what metadata is and what information can be determined from it. It is from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada and is dated July 2013.

The standard defense of the American, British and Canadian spy agencies is that they are not eavesdropping on the "communications" of their own citizens, they are merely looking at the "metadata". This can include the time, duration, phone numbers or ip addresses, etc. or any other info. associated with messages between persons, but supposedly without looking into the actual content of those messages. As this paper will show, far more can be gathered from the metadata itself than the actual message contents. To say that looking at metadata is not an invasion of citizen's privacy is an insult to our intelligence.

The other big lie in this whole game is that while in theory it is illegal for a country to spy on it's own citizens, under the so called "Five Eyes" agreement, the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand are free to spy on each others' citizens and can freely share that information among the various agencies in each country.

I am amazed that there is not absolute outrage about this latest spy scandal here in Canada, but I guess we Canucks are sometimes just too laid back for our own good!

Anyway, enough of my rant, here's what this is all aboot:

"A Primer on Metadata: Separating Fact from Fiction, explains that metadata can actually be more revealing than accessing the content of our communications. The paper aims to provide a clear understanding of metadata and disputes popular claims that the information being captured is neither sensitive, nor privacy-invasive, since it does not access any content. Given the implications for privacy and freedom, it is critical that we all question the dated, but ever-so prevalent either/or, zero-sum mindset to privacy vs. security. Instead, what is needed are proactive measures designed to provide for both security and privacy, in an accountable and transparent manner."--Author:Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D., Information & Privacy Commissioner, Ontario, Canada, Date Published:July 17, 2013.

http://www.privacybydesign.ca/conten...7/Metadata.pdf

I hope you find it useful.

Griff