In the computer science world yes. But the word also exists outside of that context (and did so long before computers). Data is the plural of datum. A datum is

In the computer science world yes. But the word also exists outside of that context (and did so long before computers). Data is the plural of datum. A datum is a piece of information. Of course not any piece information is automatically a datum, as that noun implies a certain structured nature or a normative perspective on that piece of information. Certain information only became commonplace because it became a datum first. Before using family names as an identifier many people had no family names, they were identified by their first name and by the places they grew up in.