'Metadata' in Files Can Cause Embarrassing Gaffes
It pays to mind your metadata. Technically, metadata is sort of the DNA of documents created with modern word-processing software. By default, it is automatically saved into the deep structure of a file, hidden from view, with information that can hint at authorship, times and dates of revisions (along with names of editors). Recently, the United Nations issued a long-awaited report on Syria's suspected involvement in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Recipients of one version of the report were able to track the editing changes, which included the deletion of names of officials allegedly involved in the plot, including the Syrian president's brother and brother-in-law.
Beware Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints, New York Times, November 7, 2005.
