SF-Data-Arch Data Governance — 25 Questions

Question 1

A company is migrating legacy data to Salesforce and discovers widespread data quality issues. They decide to implement a Data Quality Firewall. What is the most important governance step to ensure the firewall succeeds?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Standardizing data validation rules.. A Data Quality Firewall requires clear rules and ownership. Before implementing any technical validation, stakeholders must define the data quality metrics and acceptable thresholds. Without these standards, the firewall may reject valid business data or allow corrupt data to pass, rendering the automated controls ineffective and causing friction between business users and the technical team.

Answer

Purchasing a third-party ETL tool.

Answer

Creating more profiles in Salesforce.

Answer

Renaming all custom fields to match.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. If an auditor asks how the organization ensures the 'retention_period' policy is enforced, which technical capability provides the best evidence?

Accepted Answer

Automated data deletion logs.. The most effective evidence is a combination of automated deletion logic (like Big Objects or custom batch jobs) and audit logs that track record deletion history. Demonstrating an automated, repeatable process confirms that the policy is being applied systematically rather than manually. Providing these logs as proof gives the auditor confidence that the data retention governance is both robust and consistently enforced.

Answer

Salesforce Setup Audit Trail logs.

Answer

Field-level security settings.

Answer

Object-level security profiles.

Question 3

Governance is essential for managing Salesforce technical debt. Which THREE actions contribute to reducing technical debt? (Choose Three)

Accepted Answer

Reviewing and removing inactive code.. Technical debt accumulates when temporary fixes become permanent or complexity grows unmanaged. Regular reviews of inactive code, documentation of legacy logic, and enforcing coding standards are essential governance activities. These actions prevent the system from becoming brittle, expensive to maintain, and difficult to upgrade, ultimately ensuring the platform remains agile and supports long-term business growth effectively.

Answer

Automating end-user password resets.

Answer

Increasing the daily API call limit.

Question 4

Refer to the exhibit. A data architect is reviewing a JSON policy designed to secure sensitive customer data. Which Salesforce feature should be used to enforce the 'Masking' requirement specified in the policy?

Accepted Answer

Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption with Masking.. The exhibit specifies a data masking requirement for standard fields within the Salesforce environment. To achieve this, the architect must utilize Shield Platform Encryption with the Format Preserving Encryption (FPE) capabilities or Field Masking features. This is critical for protecting sensitive data from unauthorized visibility while maintaining the usability of the underlying field for processes that do not require full access to the raw information.

Answer

Field-Level Security (FLS).

Answer

Dynamic Forms.

Answer

Validation Rules.

Question 5

A Salesforce org has a custom field called 'Customer_Tier__c' on the Account object. The data governance team wants to ensure that only users with the 'Data Steward' permission set can edit this field, while all other users can view it. Which Salesforce feature should the architect use to enforce this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Field-Level Security (FLS) combined with a Permission Set. The requirement is to allow only users with the 'Data Steward' permission set to edit a specific field. Field-Level Security on the profile can set the field to read-only for all users, and then a permission set can grant edit access to that field. This layered approach ensures that only the intended users can modify the field, while others can still view it. Other options like page layouts or validation rules do not enforce data-level security.

Answer

Validation Rule that checks the user's permission set

Answer

Field-Level Security (FLS) on the User Profile

Answer

Page Layout with the field set to Read-Only

Question 6

A large enterprise uses Salesforce to manage customer data. The data governance team wants to track the lineage of a critical field 'Customer_Health_Score__c' on the Account object, which is calculated by an external system and loaded into Salesforce via a nightly integration. The team needs to know which integration job, user, and timestamp last modified this field for audit purposes. Which Salesforce feature should the architect implement to meet this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Field History Tracking on the Account object for the Customer_Health_Score__c field. Field History Tracking on the Account object for the Customer_Health_Score__c field captures the old and new values, the user who made the change, and the timestamp. This provides the necessary audit trail for data lineage. Setup Audit Trail, Event Monitoring, and Data Loader logs do not provide the same level of detail for record-level field changes. Field History Tracking is the appropriate Salesforce feature for tracking field-level data changes.

Answer

Data Loader logs

Answer

Event Monitoring

Answer

Setup Audit Trail

Question 7

A healthcare organization uses Salesforce to manage patient outreach. A governance policy states that any user who can view a patient's diagnosis must also be prevented from exporting that data to a spreadsheet. The security team wants to enforce this without removing legitimate access to the record. Which Salesforce capability should the architect use to meet this policy?

Accepted Answer

Use Event Monitoring and Transaction Security policies to detect and block bulk export events such as ReportExport and ApiEvent.. The policy distinguishes viewing from exporting, so the control must act on the export action itself. Event Monitoring feeds events into Transaction Security, which can evaluate ReportExport and ApiEvent in real time and block them. Object permissions and View All Data do not stop exports, and disabling API Enabled org-wide is disproportionate and breaks unrelated functionality.

Answer

Set the object-level permission for the diagnosis object to Read Only for all profiles.

Answer

Create a permission set that grants View All Data but not Modify All Data on the diagnosis object.

Answer

Remove the Export Reports permission from all profiles and disable the API Enabled permission org-wide.

Question 8

A financial services company stores customer records in Salesforce that include Social Security numbers in a custom text field. The security team requires that the data be masked for most users while remaining usable by a small group of authorized agents, and that all access to the unmasked values be auditable. Which combination of Salesforce features best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Data Masking (Shield) to display masked values to most users, with a permission set granting unmasked access to authorized agents, and Event Monitoring to audit access.. The requirement has two distinct parts: selective masking so most users see obfuscated values while a small group sees full values, and auditable access to the unmasked data. Shield Data Masking with a permission-based unmasking rule handles the first, and Event Monitoring handles the second. Encryption features alone cannot provide selective display, and Field-Level Security hides rather than masks, so neither satisfies both conditions.

Answer

Classic Encryption with a masked view for all users and a separate permission set granting unmasked access, combined with Event Monitoring for access auditing.

Answer

Field-Level Security to hide the field from unauthorized profiles and Field Audit Trail to track changes to the field value.

Answer

Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption with a deterministic encryption scheme and a permission set controlling decryption access.

Question 9

A global organization requires that sensitive customer data be categorized, protected, and auditable across Salesforce Orgs. Which data governance framework component is most effective for ensuring consistent data classification policies?

Accepted Answer

Define a formal Data Classification Policy.. Establishing a formal Data Classification Policy is the foundational step for governance. It defines the sensitivity levels and handling requirements for data elements. By standardizing these definitions, architects ensure that technical controls like Shield Platform Encryption or Field Level Security are applied consistently across distributed environments, minimizing risk of unauthorized access and ensuring compliance with global data privacy regulations.

Answer

Enable Shield Platform Encryption for all fields.

Answer

Implement Field Level Security on all PII fields.

Answer

Automate data purging using Apex triggers.

Question 10

A firm is implementing a data stewardship program. Which TWO activities are primary responsibilities of a Data Steward? (Choose Two)

Accepted Answer

Identify and document data quality issues.. Data stewards bridge the gap between technical IT teams and business users. They are responsible for the daily management, quality, and definition of data assets. By ensuring metadata is documented and data quality issues are remediated, they maintain the integrity of the data assets, which is critical for trustworthy analytics and regulatory reporting within the Salesforce ecosystem.

Answer

Define the overarching corporate data strategy.

Answer

Design the technical Salesforce architecture.

Answer

Approve all system-level security access.

Question 11

Refer to the exhibit. An organization uses the provided JSON policy to manage PII fields. As a Data Architect, what is the primary governance risk if this policy is not integrated with Salesforce's internal security controls?

Accepted Answer

Inconsistent enforcement of privacy compliance.. The primary risk is the discrepancy between the documented policy and the actual system implementation. If the JSON policy dictates partial masking but the Salesforce configuration allows full view access via profiles or permission sets, the policy becomes ineffective. This gap compromises compliance, as the organization cannot guarantee that data protection rules are actually enforced at the application layer where users interact.

Answer

Increased latency in database query execution.

Answer

Loss of data due to automated purging.

Answer

Increased storage consumption in the Org.

Question 12

Which document is the most critical for Data Governance to ensure that Salesforce Orgs remain compliant with regional data residency requirements?

Accepted Answer

Data Inventory and Mapping.. The Data Inventory and Mapping document is critical because it identifies exactly where sensitive data resides. To comply with data residency laws, architects must know which Org holds data and where those Orgs are physically hosted. Without this mapping, it is impossible to audit compliance or implement the necessary architectural controls to keep data within specific geographic borders as required by law.

Answer

User Access Request Log.

Answer

Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Answer

Salesforce Org release notes.

Question 13

An organization is establishing a Data Governance Council. Which THREE outcomes are primary goals of this council? (Choose Three)

Accepted Answer

Resolving data ownership and stewardship conflicts.. A Data Governance Council is a cross-functional body that aligns data strategy with business objectives. By resolving data ownership conflicts, setting enterprise-wide standards, and fostering communication between business units and IT, the council ensures that data is managed as a strategic asset. This alignment prevents silos, ensures accountability, and maximizes the value derived from data across the entire organization.

Answer

Managing daily Apex deployment cycles.

Answer

Directly configuring Salesforce security profiles.

Question 14

Which strategy best supports Data Governance when scaling a Salesforce implementation across multiple business units with varying data requirements?

Accepted Answer

Federated Governance.. A Federated Data Governance model is best for large, complex organizations. It allows for central oversight and standardized definitions while giving local business units the autonomy to manage their domain-specific data. This balanced approach avoids the bottlenecks of a purely centralized model while preventing the chaos of a decentralized one, ensuring both compliance and business agility at scale.

Answer

Centralized Governance.

Answer

Decentralized Governance.

Answer

Automated Governance.

Question 15

A Data Architect is tasked with ensuring Data Lifecycle Management is governed. Which lifecycle stage should include a requirement for automated data archiving?

Accepted Answer

Data Retention.. The 'Retention' or 'Disposition' phase is where archiving is most critical. As data ages, its value decreases, while storage costs and security risks remain. By governing this stage, the architect ensures that older data is moved to cheaper, secure storage (archiving) rather than being deleted or kept in active production tables, which optimizes system performance and maintains compliance with storage policies.

Answer

Data Creation.

Answer

Data Usage.

Answer

Data Acquisition.

Question 16

What is the primary role of a Data Dictionary in a Data Governance program?

Accepted Answer

Establishing a standard metadata definition.. A Data Dictionary acts as a central repository for technical and business metadata. It provides a common language for stakeholders, ensuring that everyone understands what a field represents, its data type, and its business rules. By centralizing this information, the dictionary prevents ambiguity and errors in reporting, which is a fundamental requirement for building a reliable, governed data environment.

Answer

Enforcing record-level security.

Answer

Automating data cleaning processes.

Answer

Managing integration authentication tokens.

Question 17

An architect is designing a governance framework for Master Data Management (MDM). Which approach is best for ensuring 'Golden Record' consistency in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

Implementing an external MDM hub.. A Master Data Management strategy requires a 'Source of Truth' identification. By defining which system holds the primary record and using integration middleware to synchronize these records, the architect creates a consistent 'Golden Record'. This prevents data fragmentation where different systems maintain conflicting versions of the same customer, which is the core challenge MDM aims to solve.

Answer

Using Duplicate Rules to merge records.

Answer

Creating custom formula fields.

Answer

Enabling Person Accounts for all users.

Question 18

Which governance component ensures that Salesforce Orgs are prepared for major feature updates and potential breaking changes?

Accepted Answer

Change Management Process.. The Change Management process is critical for handling major updates. It includes impact analysis, sandbox testing, and regression testing. By governing this process, architects ensure that features are validated in a safe environment before production deployment. This minimizes the risk of system outages, ensures business continuity, and keeps the Salesforce environment stable during the rapid release cadence of the platform.

Answer

Data Classification Policy.

Answer

Data Dictionary.

Answer

Master Data Management (MDM).

Question 19

Refer to the exhibit. As a Data Architect, what is the governance concern if this 'VAL-099' rule remains inactive in production?

Accepted Answer

Degradation of data quality over time.. The primary concern is the uncontrolled entry of corrupt data. If a governance rule is defined but not active, the system lacks the technical enforcement to maintain quality standards. This leads to 'data rot' where the system collects invalid entries, which will eventually break downstream integrations, analytics reporting, and business processes, causing significant effort for data cleansing at a later date.

Answer

Increased system storage limits.

Answer

Inability to run system reports.

Answer

Increased Apex trigger execution time.

Question 20

Which document is essential to provide to a regulator to prove that the Data Governance program is active and effective?

Accepted Answer

Data Governance Charter.. The Data Governance Charter is the foundational document that outlines the authority, scope, and objectives of the program. It provides the official mandate, showing that the organization has formally recognized the importance of data governance. For regulators, this is the first proof that the organization has a structured approach to managing data quality, security, and compliance in its systems.

Answer

List of user profiles.

Answer

Salesforce Developer Guide.

Answer

Individual user training materials.