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Law.com asks Where Do the Footprints of Metadata Lead? Metadata, often described as "data about data," is electronically stored information that generally is not visible from the face of a document that has been printed out, or as first seen on a computer screen. Embedded in the software, metadata gives information about the creation or modification of the document -- information which often is mundane but at other times, can be quite significant and perhaps even privileged.

By "mining" the metadata in a document, someone may be able to identify the document's author, changes made during various stages of its preparation, comments made by others who reviewed the document and other documents embedded within the document.