No. The only difference is that you typically don’t put papers in the custody of a third party.
My dad at one point was an inspector general at a government agency. They would use records and “physical metadata” like building logs and receipts for the purposes of their work. The difference today is that your allowing many third parties to gather that data.
That’s the key thing. If you store data in the custody of a third party, it isn’t yours.
Well, people do typically put papers in the custody of a third party. Always have.
Pretty much every paper that is involved in discovery is classified by the "custodian". Also of course, all the digital information, but traditionally it's paper.
If you use and/or have a dispute with a lawyer, a doctor, a contractor, an accountant, whatever, they're going to have papers pertaining to you.
I’m talking about an individual, not a business scenario. Your papers in your custody in your home are only accessible via warrant, as opposed to your online stuff that requires as little as an administrative subpoena.
Your doctor and attorney are unique in that professional relationship is legally privileged.
I'm just saying the fact that everything in the legal business is classified by "custodian", without any more context, kind of indicates that the default is not to assume ownership in the manner you're suggesting. Like, when something is legally disputed, there's a good chance people are hiding things, giving them to others, intermingling evidence with other things, etc. The system couldn't work if it assumed that everybody followed the rules. No, I'm not a lawyer, but come on.
My dad at one point was an inspector general at a government agency. They would use records and “physical metadata” like building logs and receipts for the purposes of their work. The difference today is that your allowing many third parties to gather that data.
That’s the key thing. If you store data in the custody of a third party, it isn’t yours.