- A
The data scientist is not assigned to the correct Lake Formation tag.
Why wrong: The error is about table permissions, not tags; also the admin granted table permissions directly.
- B
The S3 bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location.
Lake Formation permissions are separate from S3 bucket policies; the bucket policy must allow the IAM role to read the data.
- C
The Athena IAM role is missing lakeformation:GetEffectivePermissions permission.
Why wrong: GetEffectivePermissions is for listing permissions, not for data access.
- D
The data scientist's IAM user lacks the necessary S3 permissions.
Why wrong: Athena uses the IAM role, not the user's IAM permissions, for S3 access.
Question 535 of 1,786
DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations and support. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 runs a data lake on Amazon S3 with AWS Lake Formation for access control. The data lake contains sensitive customer information. A data scientist needs to query the data using Amazon Athena. The data scientist has been granted SELECT permission on the database and tables via Lake Formation. However, when the data scientist runs a query in Athena, they receive an error: 'Access denied. Please check your permissions.' The IAM role used by Athena has the following permissions: s3:GetObject, s3:ListBucket, and lakeformation:GetDataAccess. The Lake Formation admin has verified that the data scientist is a member of a Lake Formation data lake location and has been granted 'Describe' and 'Select' permissions on the table. What is the most likely reason for the access denied error?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"most likely"Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The S3 bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location.
The access denied error occurs because the IAM role used by Athena lacks the necessary S3 permissions, even though Lake Formation has granted SELECT and DESCRIBE permissions. Lake Formation handles permissions at the metadata level, but the actual data access still requires S3 bucket policy or IAM policy to allow s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket for the specific S3 location. If the bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location, the request will be denied. Option B correctly identifies this issue. Option A is incorrect because Lake Formation tag-based access control is not required for this scenario; the data scientist already has direct table permissions. Option C is incorrect because lakeformation:GetEffectivePermissions is not needed; the role already has lakeformation:GetDataAccess. Option D is incorrect because Athena uses the IAM role assigned to the workgroup, not the data scientist's individual IAM user.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The data scientist is not assigned to the correct Lake Formation tag.
Why it's wrong here
The error is about table permissions, not tags; also the admin granted table permissions directly.
- ✓
The S3 bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location.
Why this is correct
Lake Formation permissions are separate from S3 bucket policies; the bucket policy must allow the IAM role to read the data.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
The Athena IAM role is missing lakeformation:GetEffectivePermissions permission.
Why it's wrong here
GetEffectivePermissions is for listing permissions, not for data access.
- ✗
The data scientist's IAM user lacks the necessary S3 permissions.
Why it's wrong here
Athena uses the IAM role, not the user's IAM permissions, for S3 access.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
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
How to think about this question
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.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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
Questions learners often ask
What does this DEA-C01 question test?
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The S3 bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location. — The access denied error occurs because the IAM role used by Athena lacks the necessary S3 permissions, even though Lake Formation has granted SELECT and DESCRIBE permissions. Lake Formation handles permissions at the metadata level, but the actual data access still requires S3 bucket policy or IAM policy to allow s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket for the specific S3 location. If the bucket policy does not grant the Athena IAM role access to the S3 location, the request will be denied. Option B correctly identifies this issue. Option A is incorrect because Lake Formation tag-based access control is not required for this scenario; the data scientist already has direct table permissions. Option C is incorrect because lakeformation:GetEffectivePermissions is not needed; the role already has lakeformation:GetDataAccess. Option D is incorrect because Athena uses the IAM role assigned to the workgroup, not the data scientist's individual IAM user.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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