How does the use of meta tags and character encoding affect data transfer between a form and PHP in a web application?

When transferring data between a form and PHP in a web application, using meta tags and character encoding is crucial for ensuring that special characters are properly handled and displayed. Meta tags help specify the character encoding of the document, while setting the appropriate character encoding in PHP ensures that the data is processed correctly.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
<body>

<?php
// Set the character encoding for PHP
header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8');

// Retrieve form data using appropriate character encoding
$data = htmlspecialchars($_POST['data'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');

// Process the data further
// ...
?>

</body>
</html>