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Global Accelerated Learning • Est. 1999
Glossary Term Metadata

Training Camp • Cybersecurity Glossary

What is Metadata?

Information about data, such as creation date, author, format, and modification history, used to describe, locate, and manage other data.

Glossary > Application & API Security > Metadata

Understanding Metadata

Information about the data. Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage data. It includes details such as creation date, author, file size, format, location, modification history, and various attributes about the data. Metadata management is addressed in frameworks like ISO 27001, GDPR, NIST SP 800-53, and various information management standards. Organizations manage metadata through data governance programs, metadata repositories, classification schemes, catalog systems, and retention policies. For example, a document management system might capture and store metadata about each document, including creation date, author, department, classification level, retention period, and approved user groups, using this information to enforce access controls and lifecycle management rules. Related terms: Data governance, Data classification, Information lifecycle management, Document management, Data dictionary, Tagging, File properties.

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