Who has overall responsibility for governance and protection of data?

• A. Chief Data Officer (CDO) - overall responsibility for governance and protection of data
• B. Data Strategy - defines the mission for data use
• C. IT Department - handles all governance tasks
• D. Compliance Team - risk oversight of data

Answer: (A)

Ownership of data governance and protection lies with the Chief Data Officer because this role is responsible for designing and enforcing the enterprise-wide framework that covers data quality, metadata, data stewardship, privacy, and security across all data assets. The CDO leads governance bodies, sets policies and standards, and ensures data is accurate, properly protected, and compliant with regulations. The data strategy outlines the direction for using data but does not own governance authority. The IT department handles the technology and operations to support data systems, not the overarching policy and control framework. The compliance team watches regulatory risk, but governance ownership requires a cross-functional role that the CDO provides to coordinate and enforce the data governance framework.