COF-C03 Account Management and Data Governance Practice Question
A data steward needs to review the history of changes made to a table, including which columns were added or dropped and when, for an audit that covers the past 60 days. The table is in a database that has a data retention period of 90 days. Which Snowflake feature should the steward use to retrieve this information?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Time Travel, which returns past data, with object change history, which records metadata changes.
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
✓
The object change history accessible through the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema, such as the COLUMNS view with its deleted and change tracking columns.
Object change history in the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema records metadata changes such as column additions and drops, with timestamps and deleted markers. This is the correct source for auditing schema evolution. Time Travel and query or access history views serve different purposes and do not provide a structured column change log.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The ACCESS_HISTORY view in the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema.
Why it's wrong here
ACCESS_HISTORY tracks which columns were read by queries and which objects were accessed, which supports access auditing and lineage. It does not record schema changes such as columns being added or dropped. The requirement is to review structural changes over time, so this view does not provide the needed information.
- ✗
The ACCOUNT_USAGE.QUERY_HISTORY view filtered by the table name.
Why it's wrong here
QUERY_HISTORY records executed queries and their text, which can show that an ALTER TABLE was run, but it does not present a structured history of column-level changes with before and after states. It is useful for query auditing, not for reconstructing the exact schema evolution of a table over time. The steward needs a dedicated object change history.
- ✗
Time Travel by querying the table with AT (TIMESTAMP => ...) for each day in the audit period.
Why it's wrong here
Time Travel lets you query historical data as it existed at a point in time, but it does not provide a change log of schema modifications such as added or dropped columns. It returns the table's data at a past moment, not a record of DDL operations. For auditing schema changes, a different feature that records object metadata changes is required.
- ✓
The object change history accessible through the ACCOUNT_USAGE schema, such as the COLUMNS view with its deleted and change tracking columns.
Why this is correct
The ACCOUNT_USAGE schema includes views that track object metadata over time. The COLUMNS view, for example, records column definitions and marks deleted columns, allowing a steward to see when columns were added or dropped. This provides the structured change history needed for the audit, independent of the table's data retention period.
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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
This COF-C03 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 COF-C03 exam.