Unstructured data

at the U.S. National Archives Military Records Center in Alexandria, Virginia, 1956 Unstructured data (or unstructured information) is information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured information is typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. This results in irregularities and ambiguities that make it difficult to understand using traditional programs as compared to data stored in fielded form in databases or annotated (semantically tagged) in documents. In 1998, Merrill Lynch said "unstructured data comprises the vast majority of data found in an organization, some estimates run as high as 80%." It is unclear what the source of this number is, but nonetheless it is accepted by some. Other sources have reported similar or higher percentages of unstructured data. In 2012, the International Data Corporation (IDC) and the Dell EMC projected that data would grow to 40 zettabytes by 2020, resulting in a 50-fold growth from the beginning of 2010. More recently, IDC and Seagate predict that the global datasphere will grow to 163 zettabytes by 2025 and majority of that will be unstructured. The Computer World magazine states that unstructured information might account for more than 70–80% of all data in organizations.

at the U.S. National Archives Military Records Center in Alexandria, Virginia, 1956]] Unstructured data (or unstructured information) is information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured information is typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. This results in irregularities and ambiguities that make it difficult to understand using traditional programs as compared to data stored in fielded form in databases or annotated (semantically tagged) in documents. In 1998, Merrill Lynch said "unstructured data comprises the vast majority of data found in an organization, some estimates run as high as 80%." It is unclear what the source of this number is, but nonetheless it is accepted by some. Other sources have reported similar or higher percentages of unstructured data. In 2012, the International Data Corporation (IDC) and the Dell EMC projected that data would grow to 40 zettabytes by 2020, resulting in a 50-fold growth from the beginning of 2010. More recently, IDC and Seagate predict that the global datasphere will grow to 163 zettabytes by 2025 and majority of that will be unstructured. The Computer World magazine states that unstructured information might account for more than 70–80% of all data in organizations. GDPR Case-law on what defines a "filing system"; "the specific criterion and the specific form in which the set of personal data collected by each of the members who engage in preaching is actually structured is irrelevant, so long as that set of data makes it possible for the data relating to a specific person who has been contacted to be easily retrieved, which is however for the referring court to ascertain in the light of all the circumstances of the case in the main proceedings." (CJEU, Todistajat v. Tietosuojavaltuutettu, Jehovan, Paragraph 61). If personal data is easily retrieved - then it is a filing system and - then it is in scope for GDPR regardless of being "structured" or "unstructured". Most electronic systems today, subject to access and applied software, can allow for easy retrieval of data. ==References==

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