DEA-C02 Data Governance Practice Question
A financial services company stores transaction records in a Snowflake table that includes a column named 'SSN'. The data engineering team has been asked to implement a governance control that automatically detects and tags any column containing Social Security Numbers across the entire account, without manually inspecting every table. Which Snowflake feature should the team use to achieve this requirement?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Data Classification with Dynamic Data Masking, which protects data but does not automatically detect or tag columns.
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
✓
Data Classification with a custom classification profile
Data Classification is designed to automatically scan and classify columns based on sensitive data patterns. By using a custom classification profile, the team can ensure SSNs are detected and tagged with system tags across the account, meeting the governance requirement without manual effort.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Object tagging with manual tag assignments
Why it's wrong here
Object tagging allows you to assign tags to objects, but it requires manual or scripted assignment. It does not automatically detect sensitive data patterns. Therefore, it would not meet the requirement of automatically finding and tagging SSN columns across all tables without manual inspection.
- ✗
Access History view in ACCOUNT_USAGE
Why it's wrong here
Access History records read and write operations on tables and columns, but it does not classify or tag data. It is used for auditing and monitoring, not for automatic detection and tagging of sensitive information like SSNs.
- ✓
Data Classification with a custom classification profile
Why this is correct
Data Classification scans table columns and applies system tags like SNOWFLAKE.CORE.SSN based on semantic and pattern matching. By creating a custom classification profile that includes SSN detection, the team can automatically tag all relevant columns account-wide. This satisfies the requirement for automatic detection and tagging without manual intervention.
- ✗
Dynamic Data Masking with a masking policy
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic Data Masking obscures data at query time based on user roles, but it does not detect or tag columns containing sensitive data. While it can protect SSNs, it does not fulfill the requirement of automatically identifying and tagging columns across the account.
About these practice questions
This DEA-C02 question is part of Courseiva's 229-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Snowflake exam blueprint
This DEA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Snowflake 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 DEA-C02 exam.