How Metadata Can Affect a Case

Metadata is data about data. File metadata is stored within the file and includes properties that are visible to the common user. System metadata is stored with the content of the file. It includes time stamps associated with data, such as date modified, accessed, created and entered. If you simply open a computer file, you will not know when it got to that computer or when it was moved to a certain folder. That information can be determined with metadata.

Most of the time, metadata in litigation is used to discredit or support other evidence. Metadata can prove that a certain user created or opened a document in a specific time frame.

Metadata can be used to help create timelines. A forensics analyst can look at how files were accessed and in what order. Because the data is mostly “black-and- white,” a factual report usually suffices and there is no need for the expert to testify.

Metadata also comes into play with filtering during e-discovery. Common filters include de-duplication and file type. De-duplication gets rid of duplicates of documents, which reduces the data attorneys will need to review. This can become problematic if the documents have different metadata, because things like file name and location typically are not included in the de-duplication process. The duplicate is deleted, even though it could have had unique metadata that was relevant to the case. This issue is being addressed by de-duplication software.