- A
Enabling BigQuery data encryption with CMEK to prevent external parties from decrypting shared data
Why wrong: CMEK protects against unauthorized access to storage infrastructure. If an IAM policy grants an external user access to the BigQuery dataset, they can query it regardless of CMEK — the encryption is transparent to authorized users.
- B
The 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint, which prevents IAM policies from granting access to users outside specified trusted domains
Domain Restricted Sharing is the correct control. It's an org policy constraint that makes it impossible to add external users (gmail.com accounts or accounts from other Google Cloud organizations) to any IAM policy in the organization. This prevents accidental or intentional sharing of resources outside the company's domain.
- C
BigQuery row-level security policies that restrict rows based on user email domain
Why wrong: Row-level security restricts which rows a user sees within a dataset they're authorized to query. It doesn't prevent external users from being granted access to the dataset in the first place.
- D
Disabling external IP addresses on all Google Cloud resources to prevent data from leaving the organization's network
Why wrong: External IP addresses affect network routing. BigQuery is a shared Google service accessed via Google's APIs regardless of VM external IP configuration. Disabling external IPs on VMs doesn't restrict BigQuery IAM sharing.
Prevent External Data Sharing: Domain Restricted Sharing Organization Policy
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of trust and security with google cloud. 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 wants to ensure that their confidential data stored in BigQuery cannot be shared outside the company's Google Cloud organization. Which Google Cloud security capability prevents data from being shared with external Google accounts (outside the organization)?
Quick Answer
The answer is the Domain Restricted Sharing organization policy constraint, which prevents IAM policies from granting access to users outside specified trusted domains. This is correct because the constraint, formally known as constraints/iam.allowedPolicyMemberDomains, enforces that all IAM members belong to approved domains like your company’s Google Workspace domain, directly blocking BigQuery data from being shared with external Google accounts. On the Google Cloud Digital Leader exam, this tests your understanding of organization policies as a preventive security control for data exfiltration, often appearing in scenarios about protecting confidential data from external sharing. A common trap is confusing this with VPC Service Controls, which restrict data movement between services, not external identities. Remember the memory tip: “Domain Restricted” locks the door to outside domains, while IAM policies can only invite guests from your own house.
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 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint, which prevents IAM policies from granting access to users outside specified trusted domains
Option B is correct because the 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint (constraints/iam.allowedPolicyMemberDomains) explicitly prevents IAM policies from granting access to principals outside of specified trusted domains. This directly blocks sharing BigQuery data with external Google accounts by enforcing that all IAM members belong to the allowed domains, such as the company's own Google Workspace domain.
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.
- ✗
Enabling BigQuery data encryption with CMEK to prevent external parties from decrypting shared data
Why it's wrong here
CMEK protects against unauthorized access to storage infrastructure. If an IAM policy grants an external user access to the BigQuery dataset, they can query it regardless of CMEK — the encryption is transparent to authorized users.
- ✓
The 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint, which prevents IAM policies from granting access to users outside specified trusted domains
Why this is correct
Domain Restricted Sharing is the correct control. It's an org policy constraint that makes it impossible to add external users (gmail.com accounts or accounts from other Google Cloud organizations) to any IAM policy in the organization. This prevents accidental or intentional sharing of resources outside the company's domain.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
BigQuery row-level security policies that restrict rows based on user email domain
Why it's wrong here
Row-level security restricts which rows a user sees within a dataset they're authorized to query. It doesn't prevent external users from being granted access to the dataset in the first place.
- ✗
Disabling external IP addresses on all Google Cloud resources to prevent data from leaving the organization's network
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse data-at-rest encryption (CMEK) or data filtering (row-level security) with access control, failing to realize that only an organization policy constraint can prevent the initial IAM grant that shares data with external accounts.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The 'Domain Restricted Sharing' constraint is enforced at the organization policy level and applies to all IAM bindings across the resource hierarchy, including BigQuery datasets. When this constraint is set to allow only a specific domain (e.g., example.com), any IAM policy that includes a user outside that domain (e.g., attacker@gmail.com) will be denied at evaluation time, even if the policy is set directly on a BigQuery dataset. This is a preventive control that blocks the sharing before any data access occurs, unlike encryption or row-level security which are detective or mitigative controls.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Trust and security with Google Cloud — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this GCDL question test?
Trust and security with Google Cloud — This question tests Trust and security with Google Cloud — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint, which prevents IAM policies from granting access to users outside specified trusted domains — Option B is correct because the 'Domain Restricted Sharing' organization policy constraint (constraints/iam.allowedPolicyMemberDomains) explicitly prevents IAM policies from granting access to principals outside of specified trusted domains. This directly blocks sharing BigQuery data with external Google accounts by enforcing that all IAM members belong to the allowed domains, such as the company's own Google Workspace domain.
What should I do if I get this GCDL question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This GCDL practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud 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 GCDL exam.
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