Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

Description — The current governance state of this Data and Information type.

Benefit(s) — Enables the inventory to distinguish actively governed data types from those in transition, deprecated, or retired. Without Lifecycle Status, a data inventory cannot be used for active governance.

Source — Manual.

Examples — Proposed, Active, Deprecated, Retired

Notes — Valid values: Proposed, Active, Deprecated, Retired. Status changes require Owner approval.

Description — The date on which this Data and Information type became formally recognized and governed by the enterprise.

Benefit(s) — Supports longitudinal data portfolio analysis — tracking when types were formally recognized and identifying long-unrecognized types that may have accumulated governance debt.

Source — Manual.

Examples — 2024-01-01, 2022-07-15

Description — How long instances of this Data and Information type must be retained, expressed as a duration from the date of creation or the date the instance became inactive.

Benefit(s) — Enables automated retention policy enforcement. Without a governed Retention Period, data is either retained indefinitely (creating regulatory and storage risk) or deleted inconsistently (creating compliance and litigation risk).

Source — Manual.

Examples — 7 years (financial records under SOX), 6 years (HIPAA medical records), 3 years (general operational data), Indefinite (active master data)

Notes — Derive from regulatory requirements first, then litigation hold policies, then business need. When multiple requirements apply, use the longest retention period.

Description — The date on which this Data and Information type is planned to reach Retired status. Populated only for Deprecated types with a defined exit timeline.

Benefit(s) — Enables transition planning — surfacing which systems, integrations, and capabilities reference a type that is being retired.

Source — Manual.

Examples — 2026-12-31, 2027-06-30

Notes — Leave empty for Active and Proposed types.

Description — How instances of this Data and Information type must be disposed of at the end of their Retention Period.

Benefit(s) — Ensures data disposal is governed and defensible. Regulatory frameworks including GDPR and HIPAA require documented disposal methods. Without a governed Disposal Method, disposal is ad hoc and potentially non-compliant.

Source — Manual.

Examples — Secure Deletion, Anonymization (retain anonymized form), Archival (move to cold storage), Physical Destruction (for physical media)

Notes — For types with PII or PHI sensitivity, Anonymization may be required rather than deletion to satisfy competing regulatory obligations (e.g., GDPR right to erasure vs. HIPAA retention requirements).