Abstract: Dark data as a term is used especially to denote operational data that is left unanalyzed. Growing accumulation of structured, unstructured and semi-structured data in organizations leads to difficulties with data life cycle management. With the adoption of big data applications such data is seen as an economic opportunity for companies. The unpleasant consequence of this process is the lack of control over the data, which leads to risks. The article coined the terms explicit and hidden dark data in order to illustrate how they can become useful. For this purpose we describe and demonstrate empirically established and spread risks inherent in the explicit and hidden dark data. The study purpose is to present a new, different view to the scope of dark data term extending it and also focusing on the differences of risks exposed by those two types of dark data.
Keywords: dark, data, risk, security, governance, cybersecurity, compliance