Data use policy

Data use policies serve two related but distinct functions. Externally, they communicate to customers, regulators, and partners what data is collected and how it will be used, fulfilling transparency obligations under the GDPR, CCPA, and comparable frameworks. Internally, they define the rules that data teams, engineers, and AI practitioners must follow when accessing, processing, or sharing data.

An effective data use policy specifies:

• Permitted uses by data category.
• Access control requirements.
• Retention and deletion schedules.
• Conditions for sharing data with third parties or using it for new purposes like AI training.

Data use policies have limited compliance value if they exist only as documents. They must be operationalized, embedded into the systems and workflows that access and process data, to actually constrain behavior. A policy that says customer data cannot be used for AI training has no effect if the data pipeline feeding the model training environment doesn't check it. Policy-as-code, where data use restrictions are enforced programmatically at the system level, is the standard toward which enterprise data governance is evolving.