Definition: "Data" and "information"
Data are symbolic records in a specific context. There is a connection between "data" and "information." From a legal perspective, it is important to distinguish between the content layer, code layer, and physical layer.
Data can be viewed from three perspectives: with a focus on its content ("content layer"), with a focus on its encoding in a file ("code layer"), or with a focus on its physical storage location ("physical layer"). This differentiation is particularly relevant for legal assessment.
Source: Yochai Benkler, From Consumers to Users (2000)
Definition of data
Data are essentially symbolic records (numbers, letters, etc.) of measurements, observations, and other related information (location, time, name, description, etc.) about objects and facts in a specific context, as well as (secondary) derivations from these records.
In the sense of this basic definition, the phenomenon of "data" has existed since writing was first used for state and economic administration in ancient civilizations, i.e., for around 5,000 years. However, the term "data" itself is not as old. Derived from the Latin verb dare ("to give"), in the Middle Ages the participle form datum ("given") was noted at the beginning of important documents together with the time and place, and the content of the document thus became "given." This later developed into the plural " data" as a term for symbolic records of "facts" (circumstances) in the sense defined above and is widely used in business, administration, and science.
Digital data
With the invention of electronic (digital) computing systems in the 1930s and 1940s, data increasingly took the form of decontextualized, calculable (digital) numbers. In this form, it can be processed by universal symbolic machines ("computers"), sent via digital networks, and stored in digital memory. However, this applies not only to records of measurements, observations, and other related information, but also to the digitized conversions of all kinds of symbolic artifacts such as texts, images, and sounds. In addition, data can be artificially generated in any quantity as so-called "synthetic" data, independently of records in digital form. The conversion of all symbolic records and artifacts into machine-processable digital data ("numbers") is thus comprehensive and is the main feature of the digital age in which we find ourselves.
Data and information
The term "data" should be considered in relation to the term "information." The distinction between the two terms is not primarily based on content and structure, but rather on the context of action. Data is primarily recorded independently of its subsequent use. Information, however, refers to formalized content transmitted from a sender (or source) to a recipient. Data can thus become information in a specific context of action and communication, e.g., by querying a data collection (database). The data thus becomes a source of information ("sender") for the querying party ("recipient"), and the database, together with the application and system programs and the technical equipment (processors, memory, end devices, and networks), becomes an "information system."
Conversely, information takes many different forms, but is not always based on data, which is why the usual image of the "data-information-knowledge" pyramid is at least partially inadequate. However, information can usually be converted into digital data, i.e., recorded symbolically ("digitized") for purposes such as analysis, permanent storage, or transmission via networks.
Source: André Golliez, Geocommons for Switzerland (2023)
Legal and organizational perspective
Data must be distinguished from information. In addition to the meaning of the data, it is very important from a legal and organizational perspective to consider how it is stored and managed. According to Lessig (2002) and Benkler (2000), content (content layer), coding (code layer), and physical storage location (physical layer) should be considered separately.
Source: Policy paper "Digital Sovereignty" (2024)
