Data Owner

A Data Owner is an individual responsible for specific types of sensitive data within your organisation. When GuardWare detects data assigned to a particular owner during a scan, they automatically receive an email alert.

Data ownership ensures accountability by designating who is responsible for monitoring and protecting specific types of sensitive information and enables immediate notification so the right people are alerted when their data is found in unexpected locations.

The Data Owner is not necessarily the same as the file owner or device owner. For example, the HR Director might be the Data Owner for "Employee Social Security Numbers," even though various HR staff members might own the files containing this data on different devices.

Create a Data Owner

1. Navigate to DATA GOVERNANCE > Data Owner and click +Add Data Owner.

   
2. In Assign Data Types, click +Assign Data Types and select the data types the owner will be responsible for. You can assign multiple data types to a single data owner.

1. In Email, enter the data owner's email address. GuardWare sends alerts to this email address when sensitive data is detected. Ensure the email address is valid and actively monitored.
2. In Name, enter the data owner's full name as it should appear in reports and notifications.
3. In Description(optional), enter additional details about the owner's role or responsibilities. For example: "HR Director - responsible for all employee personal information and payroll data."
4. In Contact (optional), enter the owner's contact number.
5. After entering the basic information, click +Assign Data Types.
6. From the list of available data types, select the data types the owner will be responsible for. You can assign multiple data types to a single data owner.
7. Click Save to apply the changes. The data owner is now active and will receive email notifications whenever their assigned data types are detected during scans.

   

If the datatype you are looking for is not in the list, create a custom data type and assign it to the related owner.

Edit a Data Owner

1. Navigate to DATA GOVERNANCE > Data Owner. Locate the data owner you want to modify and click the edit () icon under the ACTIONS column.

   
2. Update the necessary information and click Save.

Assign Data Types

If you did not assign data types while creating a data owner, you can do it now.

1. Navigate to DATA GOVERNANCE > Data Owner. Locate the data owner and click the Assign Data Type icon () in the ACTIONS column.

   
2. From the list of available data types, select the data types the owner will be responsible for. You can assign multiple data types to a single data owner.
3. Click Save.

Reassign Data Types to a New Owner

Use the Reassign Data Types option to transfer responsibility for specific data types from one data owner to another. You cannot delete a data owner if the owner has a data type assigned.

1. Navigate to DATA GOVERNANCE > Data Owner.
2. Locate the data owner whose data types you want to reassign and click the Reassign Data Types ( ) icon.

   
3. Select a new owner from the dropdown, select the data types you want to assign to a new owner and click Save.

The selected data types are immediately transferred to the new owner, and all future alerts for those data types will be sent to the new owner.

Delete a Data Owner

1. Navigate to DATA GOVERNANCE > Data Owner. Locate the data owner you want to remove and click the delete icon ().

   
2. Click Delete in the confirmation alert.

Before deleting a data owner, ensure all data types linked to the owner are either unassigned or reassigned to a new owner. You cannot delete a data owner if the owner has a data type assigned.