Data are the conventional representation of a piece of information which can be analogue or digital and which can be automatically processed. Metadata on the other hand, represent a piece of information on another piece of information, where the Greek prefix indicates self-referencing, “data regarding other data”.

When we are surfing on the web, metadata are everywhere all the time: through our clicks, searches, requests, browsing history; through the time, the date of connexion; through our current or passed localisation. Acting like intangible tracks of our actions, some of them are collected by the visited websites. Those tracks left during our virtual paths are mostly and generally unintentional but they are also generating spatial and temporal coordinates. Eventually, those invisible and intangible details enable us to be identified and tracked without our knowledge and against our will.

hacktion is the result of four projects, helping ourselves to get back power on our data today, for tomorrow’s daily uses.