COF-C03 Account Management and Data Governance Practice Question
A user with the role 'ANALYST' needs to be able to see the definition of a secure view named 'sales_view' in the 'sales_db' database. The view owner has granted SELECT on the view to ANALYST. However, when ANALYST runs SHOW VIEWS, the view definition is not visible. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that SELECT privilege includes the right to see the view definition; for secure views, only the owner can see it.
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
✓
Secure views do not expose their definition to users who do not have the OWNERSHIP privilege on the view.
Secure views intentionally hide their definition from users who do not own the view. Even with SELECT privilege, non-owners cannot see the view's SQL definition. This is a key security feature of secure views.
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 ANALYST role needs the MONITOR privilege on the view to see its definition.
Why it's wrong here
The MONITOR privilege allows viewing of usage statistics and other metadata, but it does not grant the ability to see the definition of a secure view. Secure view definitions are only visible to the owner, regardless of MONITOR. So this is not the cause.
- ✗
The ANALYST role lacks the USAGE privilege on the database and schema.
Why it's wrong here
USAGE on the database and schema is required to access objects, but the scenario states that SELECT has been granted on the view, which typically implies that the necessary USAGE privileges have been granted. Without USAGE, the user couldn't even see the view in SHOW VIEWS. So this is not the cause.
- ✗
The view definition is only visible if the user has the SELECT privilege on all underlying tables.
Why it's wrong here
For secure views, the view owner's privileges are used to access underlying tables, not the querying user's. The querying user does not need privileges on underlying tables. Therefore, lacking SELECT on underlying tables does not affect visibility of the view definition.
- ✓
Secure views do not expose their definition to users who do not have the OWNERSHIP privilege on the view.
Why this is correct
Secure views are designed to hide the view definition from users who do not own the view. Even with SELECT privilege, non-owners cannot see the view's SQL definition. This is a security feature to prevent exposure of underlying data or logic.
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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.