Data Governance with AWS

Chapter 4. Protecting Your Data

Protecting your data requires a delicate equilibrium between enabling data access for informed decision making and implementing robust data controls to protect sensitive information. Balancing data access and control is essential to establishing trust while ensuring compliance so that data consumers have quick and easy access to the data they are authorized to use. It also helps prevent the introduction of additional business risk.

Let’s take a look at the key considerations and strategies that empower organizations to achieve this balance of easy access with effective control.

The Value of Protecting Your Data

Organizations store and protect sensitive data, including PII about customers and employees and other internal information such as preliminary financial data or detailed competitive plans and supporting analysis. If this data is improperly disclosed, it can create mistrust and risk the imposition of fines or, at minimum, damage the company’s reputation or market position. Yet data must be used every day for the company to function. This includes supporting sales staff with comprehensive information about the customers and publishing timely and accurate financial statements.

Because sensitive data must be used widely for business purposes without excessive delay and the data must be safeguarded from inappropriate use, data governance must have efficient process, procedures, policies, and supporting technologies so that people and groups ...