Quick Answer
The answer is the AWS account ID of the other account. This is correct because in a cross-account S3 bucket policy, specifying the entire AWS account ID as the Principal grants permission to all IAM users and roles within that account, allowing them to list objects without needing individual ARNs or IAM roles. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this tests your understanding of resource-based policies versus identity-based policies, and the common trap is confusing the Principal field with the Action or Resource—remember, the bucket policy lives on the resource side, so the Principal must identify the external account broadly. A memory tip: think of the account ID as the “front door key” for the entire foreign account, while an IAM user ARN is just a single room key.
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company wants to grant cross-account access to an S3 bucket without using IAM roles. The data engineer needs to write a bucket policy that allows another AWS account to list objects. Which Principal should be specified in the bucket policy?
The AWS account ID that owns the bucket
Why wrong: The owner account already has access.
The AWS account ID of the other account
The Principal should be the other account's ID.
The IAM user ARN in the other account
Why wrong: This would grant access to a specific user, not the account.
The root user of the other account
Why wrong: Root user is not recommended for granting access.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
The AWS account ID of the other account
Option D is correct because the Principal should be the AWS account ID of the other account. Option A is wrong because a specific IAM user ARN would grant access only to that user. Option B is wrong because the root user is not best practice. Option C is wrong because the bucket policy is on the resource side.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
The AWS account ID that owns the bucket
Why it's wrong here
The owner account already has access.
The AWS account ID of the other account
Why this is correct
The Principal should be the other account's ID.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
The IAM user ARN in the other account
Why it's wrong here
This would grant access to a specific user, not the account.
The root user of the other account
Why it's wrong here
Root user is not recommended for granting access.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: The AWS account ID of the other account — Option D is correct because the Principal should be the AWS account ID of the other account. Option A is wrong because a specific IAM user ARN would grant access only to that user. Option B is wrong because the root user is not best practice. Option C is wrong because the bucket policy is on the resource side.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
This DEA-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DEA-C01 exam.
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