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All glossary terms

Privacy & data

Data Discovery

Data discovery is the process of finding and describing data assets across systems, storage locations, and workflows. It can combine interviews, system inventories, scanning, and metadata review to identify what information exists and how it is used.

Also known as data inventory discovery.

Why it matters in practice

Discovery helps teams establish a baseline for privacy, security, retention, and governance work. Automated scanning can miss context or misclassify content, so results should be validated by people who understand the systems. A discovery project is an ongoing activity when technology and data flows continue to change.

Example

A privacy analyst combines a storage scan with service-owner interviews to locate customer records and note their purpose and access path.

Educational note

This definition is general information, not legal advice. It may omit facts that matter to a specific situation and does not establish or guarantee compliance.