What is Data Lineage?
The tracking of data's origins, movements, and transformations throughout its lifecycle.
Data lineage tracks how data flows from its original source through various transformations, systems, and processes to its final destination. It answers critical questions: Where did this data come from? How was it transformed? Who changed it? What downstream systems depend on it? Lineage is essential for regulatory compliance (proving data handling), impact analysis (understanding what breaks when a source changes), debugging (tracing data quality issues to their root cause), and trust (validating that analytics are built on reliable foundations).
Related terms
Data Catalog
A searchable inventory of all data assets in an organization with metadata, lineage, and access information.
Data Governance
The framework of policies, processes, and standards for managing data assets across an organization.
Data Quality
The degree to which data is accurate, complete, consistent, timely, and fit for its intended use.
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