Nonuserdata

Nonuserdata is a term used to describe data that is not linked to an individual user. In data governance and privacy discussions, nonuserdata distinguishes system-generated, process-generated, or aggregated data from data that is directly associated with a person, such as personally identifiable information or user-created content. Nonuserdata encompasses a range of data types produced by software, hardware, or services during normal operation.

Common examples of nonuserdata include system logs, telemetry data, performance metrics, error reports, configuration data, and metadata about software components or devices. When aggregated or anonymized, these data items may be used for product improvement, capacity planning, security monitoring, and reliability analyses without exposing individual identities. However, even nonuserdata can raise privacy considerations if it contains indirect identifiers or can be combined with other data to re-identify individuals.

In practice, organizations classify data as userdata or nonuserdata to support privacy-by-design and data minimization. Nonuserdata is often subject to different retention schedules and access controls than user data, emphasizing operational usefulness while reducing exposure of sensitive information. Data processing pipelines may separate nonuserdata from userdata to enforce appropriate governance and compliance requirements.

See also: personal data, non-personal data, telemetry, logs, metadata, data minimization.