Your team is divided over sensitive data access. How do you ensure everyone has the right level of control?

To ensure the right level of control over sensitive data, promote transparency within your organization regarding data governance practices. Clearly communicate who has access to what data and why, and be open about the criteria used to grant or restrict access. Transparency builds trust among team members, reduces suspicion or resentment, and encourages adherence to governance policies, as everyone understands the rationale behind access controls and feels included in the governance process.

Define Roles and Permissions: Clearly define roles within your organization and assign permissions based on these roles. This ensures that individuals only have access to the data necessary for their job functions. Regular Reviews: Conduct regular reviews of roles and permissions to ensure they remain aligned with current job responsibilities and organizational changes Enhance Security Measures Establish Clear Policies and Procedures

One thing I’ve found helpful in managing sensitive data access is implementing role-based access controls. This approach ensures that each team member has access only to the data they need based on their responsibilities. By doing so, we create a secure environment that minimizes the risk of privacy breaches and non-compliance, while also ensuring everyone is clear on their roles and access levels.

In my opinion; based on the core componentes to meet the activities that business team will do; you can give access to the raw or secure version of the sensitive data. For example; in logistic business, the detailed address field are required to give the package; but the with zipcode could be enought for analytic cases. This way you can manage the data access more efficiently.

RBAC is a powerful method for ensuring the right users have access to the right level of data. Most RBAC tools also allow cascading of permissions, making it easier to add new controls and policies into any system and apply them to any user of group. You can usually be as granular as you like with RBAC, however the more granular you make your controls, the harder it becomes to manage (and being less granular might expose too much sensitive data). Find an approach that works for you and your organisation - one which will be flexible enough for future updates and new data sources.

Employees don’t remain static in their roles - and neither should your data access controls. Try to keep up-to-date with changes in your personnel, what projects they are working on, and how they are using the data they are accessing. Be proactive and not reactive.

Arguably, any change to a system where data is involved should also trigger a policy review process. But don’t make this review a chore, use automation to determine if you need human intervention, and build trust in your responsibility by approaching project coordinators and developers with curiosity.