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Data Governance

What is Data Compliance? Definition, Key Regulations & Governance

Data compliance explained: what it means, the key regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, CCPA), how data governance enables compliance, and the CDMP exam context.

CDMP Master Academy·23 March 2025·9 min read

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A professional-level summary covering key definitions, frameworks, and exam-relevant points.

Compliance Landscape by Sector

SectorKey RegulationsPrimary Data Focus
Financial ServicesBasel III/IV, SOX, MiFID II, BCBS 239Risk data, financial reporting, transaction data
HealthcareHIPAA, GDPR (EU), HITECHProtected health information (PHI)
Retail/E-commerceGDPR, CCPA, PCI DSSCustomer personal data, payment card data
Public SectorGDPR, Freedom of Information, sector-specificCitizen data, public records
All Sectors (EU)GDPR, NIS2, DORA (financial)Personal data, cybersecurity

Data Governance as the Foundation for Compliance

The capabilities required for data compliance — data inventory, data classification, data lineage, access controls, retention management, audit trails — are precisely the capabilities that a mature data governance programme provides. Organisations that invest in data governance find compliance significantly easier and less costly than those that treat compliance as a standalone initiative.

CDMP Exam Relevance

Data compliance appears across multiple CDMP knowledge areas, particularly Data Security and Data Governance. Key exam topics: the relationship between governance and compliance, the key regulations and their data management implications, and the governance capabilities required to demonstrate compliance. The CDMP exam tests whether candidates understand that compliance is a consequence of good governance, not a substitute for it.

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