The correct answer is to sign a Business Associate Agreement with Google Cloud through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting Google Cloud Support. Under HIPAA, a BAA is a mandatory contractual requirement that establishes the legal business associate relationship before any protected health information (PHI) is processed, stored, or transmitted—technical safeguards like encryption at rest and Cloud Audit Logs, while important, do not fulfill this legal obligation. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this question tests your understanding that HIPAA compliance is a shared responsibility where the customer must proactively accept the BAA; a common trap is assuming that enabling security features alone satisfies regulatory requirements. Remember the memory tip: "Encryption protects data, but only a BAA protects the relationship."
PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. 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 healthcare organization is deploying a new application on Google Cloud that will process protected health information (PHI) subject to HIPAA. The security team has enabled encryption at rest using Google-managed keys and configured Cloud Audit Logs. During a compliance review, the auditor notes that the organization has not yet signed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google Cloud. What should the organization do to remediate this issue?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Sign a BAA with Google Cloud through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting Google Cloud Support.
Under HIPAA, a covered entity or business associate must have a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any service provider that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information (PHI) on its behalf. Google Cloud offers a standard BAA that customers must accept through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting support; encryption at rest and audit logs are separate technical controls that do not satisfy this contractual requirement. Option C is correct because signing a BAA is the only direct way to establish the legally required business associate relationship with Google Cloud for PHI processing.
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.
✗
Enable VPC Service Controls to satisfy HIPAA requirements without a BAA.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Service Controls are security controls, not contractual.
✗
Use Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK) to meet the requirement for a signed BAA.
Why it's wrong here
CMEK addresses encryption but does not replace a BAA.
✓
Sign a BAA with Google Cloud through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting Google Cloud Support.
Why this is correct
A BAA is required under HIPAA.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure Access Transparency logs as a substitute for a BAA.
Why it's wrong here
Access Transparency is a logging feature, not a contractual agreement.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse technical security controls (encryption, network isolation, logging) with the contractual requirement for a BAA, assuming that strong encryption or access controls can substitute for the legal agreement mandated by HIPAA.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The BAA is a legally binding contract that extends Google Cloud's HIPAA liability and requires Google to safeguard PHI as a business associate; it must be accepted at the organization level in the Google Cloud Console under the 'Security & Compliance' section. Without a signed BAA, even if all technical controls (e.g., CMEK, VPC-SC, audit logs) are in place, the organization is non-compliant because Google has no contractual obligation to protect PHI. In practice, auditors will flag the absence of a BAA as a critical finding that cannot be remediated by any technical configuration alone.
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.
Supporting compliance requirements — This question tests Supporting compliance requirements — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Sign a BAA with Google Cloud through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting Google Cloud Support. — Under HIPAA, a covered entity or business associate must have a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any service provider that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information (PHI) on its behalf. Google Cloud offers a standard BAA that customers must accept through the Google Cloud Console or by contacting support; encryption at rest and audit logs are separate technical controls that do not satisfy this contractual requirement. Option C is correct because signing a BAA is the only direct way to establish the legally required business associate relationship with Google Cloud for PHI processing.
What should I do if I get this PCSE 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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