Data Governance

In this chapter, you will learn about data governance. Data governance is kind of a broad topic that is applied on multiple levels, but at its heart, it is about the policies meant to protect people and the integrity of the data. It can also be used to keep data clean, accessible, and easy to use. These policies can be international standards, national laws, local laws, industry regulations, company contracts, or even personal rules. Data analysts almost never have a say in data governance, and many ignore it completely assuming that if they accidentally break a rule, it isn’t their fault because their supervisor didn’t tell them. This is a mistake. When you are working with data, it is your personal responsibility to make sure you know what the rules are and how they apply to you. Ignoring data governance can hurt the people whose data you are using and have legal repercussions for you personally.

The rules change wildly based on where you live, what...