Cloud Digital Leader Trust and security with Google Cloud Practice Question
This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of trust and security with google cloud. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Which THREE are required to achieve HIPAA compliance on Google Cloud?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google
Option A is correct because HIPAA requires covered entities and their business associates to have a written agreement that establishes the permitted and required uses of protected health information (PHI). Google Cloud provides a standard Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that customers must sign to contractually bind Google to HIPAA obligations, including safeguarding ePHI and reporting breaches. Without a signed BAA, Google is not legally liable as a business associate under HIPAA, making this a foundational requirement for compliance.
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.
✓
Sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google
Why this is correct
Correct: A BAA is required for HIPAA compliance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Enable Cloud Audit Logs for tracking access to ePHI
Why this is correct
Correct: Audit logs help demonstrate compliance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use only GCP services that are covered under the BAA
Why this is correct
Correct: Only services listed in the BAA can be used for ePHI.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a dedicated project for all PHI workloads
Why it's wrong here
While recommended, it is not required; however, the question expects three correct, and E is not mandatory.
✗
Configure multi-factor authentication for all users
Why it's wrong here
MFA is a best practice but not specifically required by HIPAA.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that HIPAA requires dedicated infrastructure (like a separate project) or specific security controls (like MFA), when in fact HIPAA focuses on contractual agreements (BAA), data access logging, and using only services that are contractually covered under the BAA.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, HIPAA compliance on Google Cloud relies on the shared responsibility model: Google secures the infrastructure (e.g., encryption at rest using AES-256, encryption in transit using TLS 1.2+), while the customer must configure access controls (IAM), enable audit logs (Cloud Audit Logs with Data Access read logs for ePHI), and use only BAA-covered services (e.g., Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, BigQuery) as listed in the Google Cloud BAA addendum. A common real-world scenario is a healthcare provider storing ePHI in Cloud Storage without enabling Object Versioning or retention policies, which could lead to accidental deletion and non-compliance with the HIPAA data retention requirement.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this GCDL question in full detail.
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: Sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google — Option A is correct because HIPAA requires covered entities and their business associates to have a written agreement that establishes the permitted and required uses of protected health information (PHI). Google Cloud provides a standard Business Associate Agreement (BAA) that customers must sign to contractually bind Google to HIPAA obligations, including safeguarding ePHI and reporting breaches. Without a signed BAA, Google is not legally liable as a business associate under HIPAA, making this a foundational requirement for compliance.
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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Question Discussion
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