What is data lineage?

• A. Modeling data flow beyond its system of record, including sources, transformations, storage, usage, outputs, and governance.
• B. The process of deleting data after use.
• C. The process of labeling data with colors.
• D. The legal ownership of data.

Answer: (A)

Data lineage is the ability to trace the life of data from its origin through every step it passes—sources, transformations, storage, usage, outputs—and the governance processes that apply along the way. This means you can see where data comes from, how it’s transformed, where it’s stored, who or what uses it, what results are produced, and what rules or policies govern it. That end-to-end visibility is what modeling data flow beyond its system of record is getting at: it captures the full journey of data across systems and processes.

Having this view supports data quality, impact analysis when changes occur, and compliance with privacy and governance requirements, since you can track lineage to understand how data values are derived and who is authorized to use them.

The other options don’t fit because data lineage isn’t about deleting data after use, labeling data with colors, or determining legal ownership—those describe data deletion practices, metadata labeling, and rights of ownership, none of which provide the traceability of data’s journey from source to output.