The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word METADATA
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
M
E
T
A
D
A
T
A
More clues leading to the result METADATA
- This writer with farewell message conveys commercial information
- Type of information encountered — notice a brief acknowledgement
- Got together with a potential partner, one covering up electronic background information
- Team annoyed a little about computer storage information
- Encountered a lawyer followed by volunteers providing information about information
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does METADATA mean?
METADATA noun- Data that describes other data, serving as an informative label.
- Structured information about a file (date created, creator, software used to create, last modified, file format, file fingerprint, etc).