So, what is data?

The internet

The internet is a service that can give you lots of different kinds of content.

You can read text and emails, share photos, listen to music, watch TV shows, movies and more. But how does all of this content get from the internet to your device?

Data delivery

Photos, text, videos and other content is transferred to your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer or other device in the form of data.

The data is sent over an internet connection, such as your home internet connection and Wi-Fi network, or the mobile data network your mobile phone uses.

Keeping count of data

Because it's hard to measure internet usage by the number of photos you've seen, pages you've read or movies you've watched, internet providers measure data instead.

Your internet provider keeps a count of how much data you use.

How is data measured?

We measure water in litres, and we measure power in watts. The term we use to measure data is gigabytes.

The word gigabytes is often abbreviated to GB when writing, to make it easier.

We pronounce gigabytes like this: gig – ah – bites

How home data is measured

On a home internet connection, data is measured and charged per household. Some home internet plans have a set data limit, while others are unlimited. However, even unlimited plans have rules against excessive data usage.

If a friend comes over and connects their device to your home internet, they will be using your data.

On a home internet connection, it's tricky to figure out how much data any particular device has used. All the data that gets used is bundled together.

How mobile data is measured

Data usage on a mobile phone is measured and charged per device.

On a mobile device, it's easy to see how much data that device has used. Your provider will keep track of the data used by the device, but most mobile phones and some tablets also have a special section in their settings that gives lots of information on data usage.

eSafety Tip

You'll read more about this in the coming activities, but for now, it's good to know that your mobile phone company and your mobile phone settings may track data usage a little differently.

So as a rule, when you want to know how much data you have used, it's best to trust the information you get on data usage from your mobile phone company, as they are the ones who are charging you.

Well done!

You've reached the end of the What is data? activity. You have learned that content from the internet is measured as data and delivered to your device via a home or mobile internet network.

Next up, you'll learn about how data is sold in plans, a bit like a subscription, in the activity How do I buy data?