Information is any entity or form that provides the answer to a question of some kind or resolves uncertainty. It is thus related to data and knowledge, as data represents values attributed to parameters, and knowledge signifies understanding of real things or abstract concepts. As it regards data, the information's existence is not necessarily coupled to an observer (it exists beyond an event horizon, for example), while in the case of knowledge, the information requires a cognitive observer.
A man wants no protection when his conduct is strictly right.
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Bird v. Gunston (1785), 3 Doug. 275; reported in James William Norton-Kyshe, Dictionary of Legal Quotations (1904), p. 212.
The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Colonel Charles Yancey (6 January 1816) ME 14:384.