DEA-C02 Data Governance Practice Question
Which of the following is true when considering the order of operations for policy application in Snowflake?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often guess that masking policies apply first, confusing the sequence and overlooking how premature masking could leak row existence information.
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
✓
Row Access Policies are evaluated before Masking policies.
Row Access Policies are evaluated before Dynamic Data Masking policies. This ensures that the rows themselves are filtered based on the user's access rights before any masking occurs. This order is critical for security; if masking were applied first, it might leak information about the rows that should have been filtered out, violating the principle of least privilege and strict data boundary enforcement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Masking policies are applied before Row Access Policies.
Why it's wrong here
Masking policies are applied after the row filtering process. This ensures that only the data in the rows permitted by the Row Access Policy is subjected to masking. If masking occurred first, it would be impossible to properly filter rows without potentially exposing sensitive information from unauthorized records.
- ✓
Row Access Policies are evaluated before Masking policies.
Why this is correct
Snowflake evaluates Row Access Policies first to determine which rows a user can access, then applies Masking policies to the columns within those allowed rows. This sequential order is essential for maintaining strict security boundaries, as it prevents users from performing operations on rows they are not authorized to see.
- ✗
Policies are applied in a random order.
Why it's wrong here
Policy application in Snowflake is deterministic and governed by a strict order of operations. Relying on a random order would lead to inconsistent results, security holes, and significant risks of unauthorized data exposure. Governance requires predictability and strict adherence to the defined security sequence for all queries.
- ✗
The evaluation order is defined by the table owner.
Why it's wrong here
The order of operations is architecturally hardcoded by Snowflake to guarantee consistent security enforcement. It is not a user-configurable setting. This prevents owners from inadvertently or maliciously misconfiguring security policies in a way that could compromise the integrity of the data access environment and lead to security leaks.
About these practice questions
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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
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