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DP-203 Practice Question: A company uses Azure Synapse Analytics with…
A company uses Azure Synapse Analytics with dedicated SQL pools. They need to allow a data scientist to read all tables in the 'sales' schema but prevent access to columns containing personally identifiable information (PII). Which feature should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Dynamic Data Masking with column-level security, assuming that masking PII is sufficient, but the exam tests the distinction that masking does not prevent data access—it only obfuscates the output, whereas column-level security actually denies read permission on the column.
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
✓
Column-level security
Column-level security (C) is the correct choice because it allows you to restrict access to specific columns in a table, such as PII columns, while granting read access to all other columns in the 'sales' schema. This is achieved by defining a GRANT SELECT statement on the table with a column list, or by using a security policy with a filter predicate that blocks access to sensitive columns. Unlike Dynamic Data Masking, which obfuscates data at query time but does not prevent the user from seeing the masked values in certain scenarios, Column-level security actually denies access to the specified columns entirely.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Dynamic data masking
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic data masking obfuscates data but does not prevent access to the underlying data.
- ✗
Row-level security
Why it's wrong here
Row-level security filters rows based on user context, not columns.
- ✓
Column-level security
Why this is correct
Column-level security restricts access to specific columns based on user or role.
- ✗
Azure Active Directory authentication
Why it's wrong here
Azure AD authentication controls identity, not column-level access.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Azure Data Engineering
Key term
Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Synapse Analytics is a cloud-based data integration, warehousing, and analytics service that brings together big data and data warehouse capabilities under one platform.
Key term
Azure Data Masking
Azure Data Masking is a security feature that hides sensitive data in database query results by replacing it with obscured characters, so unauthorized users see a blurred version instead of the real information.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 DP-203 exam.