Data governance
Frameworks for managing data across its value cycle. The term does not establish a policy, owner, permission, control, or compliance outcome.
Data glossary
Data governance describes frameworks for managing data across its value cycle.
This definition distinguishes data governance from data management and data analytics. It does not create, manage, assess, implement, validate, audit, secure, share, access, delete, or govern any data, policy, control, record, or system.
Data governance describes the frameworks used to manage data across its value cycle. The OECD describes it as technical, policy, and regulatory frameworks that manage data from creation to deletion. The term does not determine a policy, privacy practice, security control, legal obligation, compliance status, or decision for a particular organization. Read the OECD’s data-governance overview.
Three related terms
Related terms do not create a data practice.
Data governance can be discussed with data management and data analytics. The terms can clarify a conversation without defining policies, permissions, controls, records, or obligations.
Data management
Work associated with handling data. The phrase does not prescribe how data must be collected, accessed, shared, retained, secured, or deleted.
Data analytics
Work that uses data to extract meaningful information. Analytics does not itself establish governance, privacy, security, quality, or a decision.
Why context matters
A governance label does not decide a policy or control.
The important distinction
A glossary defines the term. It does not govern the data.
The OECD describes data governance as frameworks for managing data from creation to deletion. The terminology can orient a conversation, but it cannot select a framework, create a policy, configure a system, determine access, or validate a practice.
Frameworks and context
A framework term does not establish a compliant practice.
Data governance may be discussed with privacy, security, intellectual property, access, sharing, quality, retention, and ownership. This page does not determine legal or regulatory obligations, privacy, security, permissions, data quality, records, or compliance.
A source note
Shared vocabulary can help name a data-management question.
The OECD’s definition places data governance across a value cycle and within technical, policy, and regulatory frameworks. That definition clarifies a term; it does not dictate what a particular organization should do.
Keep the terminology and the governance decision separate.
A source definition can describe data governance broadly. It cannot establish whether a particular policy, permission, security control, record, system, practice, or outcome is suitable, legal, compliant, secure, or effective.
Glossary boundary: This page does not design, implement, assess, validate, audit, approve, certify, manage, secure, govern, access, share, retain, or delete any data, record, policy, control, privacy setting, permission, or system.
What this glossary does not decide
This educational definition does not collect, upload, store, process, manage, share, access, delete, classify, analyze, validate, secure, govern, audit, approve, certify, score, monitor, or manage any data, record, file, product, system, user, supplier, customer, privacy setting, security control, policy, permission, consent, or process; determine legal, regulatory, privacy, security, intellectual-property, compliance, risk, quality, access, retention, ownership, availability, financial, food-safety, inventory, supplier, retailer, or operational status; or provide governance, data-management, privacy, security, legal, regulatory, compliance, financial, accounting, tax, food-safety, procurement, logistics, inventory, or operational advice.
Source note
References for this definition
This source supports the terminology on this page. It is not a substitute for an organization’s own qualified reviewers, policies, records, technical controls, or applicable authorities.
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