Managing data as an asset and a liability.
WHAT IT COVERS
What data exists, and where Who owns each dataset Who may access it How quality is maintained How long it is retained How it is disposed of
WHAT A DATA INVENTORY PROVIDES
Knowledge of what you hold.
WHY THAT MATTERS MOST
You cannot protect, govern or delete what you have not recorded.
WHAT CLASSIFICATION DOES
Assigns sensitivity levels, driving handling requirements.
WHAT TO CLASSIFY BY
Impact if disclosed, altered or lost.
WHAT OWNERSHIP MEANS
A named person accountable for decisions about that data.
WHY THAT IS NECESSARY
Unowned data accumulates and nobody may authorise its deletion.
WHAT LINEAGE RECORDS
Where data came from and what was done to it.
WHY THAT MATTERS
It answers whether a figure can be trusted, and what a correction affects.
WHAT RETENTION POLICY DEFINES
How long each category is kept, and what happens then.
WHY RETAINING INDEFINITELY IS A LIABILITY
It increases breach impact, discovery burden, and storage cost.
WHAT TO AUTOMATE
Deletion at the end of retention.
WHY
Manual deletion does not happen.
WHAT TO AUDIT
Access to sensitive data, and whether it was justified.
