Which elements are defined by data governance to enable reliable reporting and compliance?

• A. Data warehousing standards and nightly batch processing.
• B. Ownership, quality, privacy, security, and usage policies.
• C. Budgetary approvals and procurement procedures.
• D. Data entry speed and formatting guidelines.

Answer: (B)

Data governance defines the policies, standards, and accountabilities that ensure data can be trusted for reporting and regulatory compliance. The elements include ownership, which assigns responsibility for data assets; quality, which sets the requirements for accuracy, completeness, and consistency; privacy, which governs how personal data is handled to meet legal and ethical obligations; security, which protects data from unauthorized access and breaches; and usage policies, which spell out who can access data, for what purposes, how data can be shared or retained, and how it should be audited. Together, these aspects create reliable reporting by ensuring everyone knows who owns data, that the data meets quality and privacy standards, and that proper controls govern how data is used and protected. Choices focusing on data storage methods or processing schedules, or on procurement and data capture details, describe operational or resource aspects rather than the governance framework that underpins trustworthy, compliant reporting.