Published in: Data Governance

Comprehensive Guide to Implementing Effective Data Governance in Snowflake

Author Deepinder

Published on: April 15, 2025

Mastering Data Governance with Snowflake: A Comprehensive Guide

Data governance is a systematic way to manage, organize, and control data assets inside an organization. This includes developing norms and policies for data quality, security, and compliance. Implementing a robust data governance plan enables businesses to streamline their data management procedures, make better informed decisions, increase efficiency, and ultimately maximize the value of their data.

Creating such a system necessitates careful planning and cross-team coordination. Stakeholders must analyze roles and duties, design suitable data policies that foster a data-centric organizational culture, and evaluate the best technology to aid with the job. Ideal governance assures the integrity and safety of sensitive and non-sensitive data and compliance with internal audits and regulatory regulations governing data residency and privacy, making it a high-risk strategy. Most firms prefer to establish data governance on a centralized platform rather than constructing their own system, as bespoke attempts frequently result in silos and gaps that bad actors can exploit and corrupt. It is best practice to create a platform that provides extensive data governance features, allowing enterprises to manage data centrally while assuring data quality, security, and compliance.

What is Snowflake Data Governance?

Snowflake data governance comprises policies, methods, and practices for managing and securing data on the Snowflake platform. It protects data integrity, security, and compliance by implementing strong access control and management processes. Role-based access controls, data masking, and extensive audit trails are critical components that allow enterprises to protect sensitive information while meeting legal obligations.

Overview of built-in Snowflake governance features

Column-Level Security

Here’s why they are helpful:

Column-level security, available in Snowflake Enterprise edition or higher, safeguards sensitive data in table or view columns. This includes:
- Dynamic Data Masking: Masking restrictions are applied at query runtime to ensure that unauthorized users only see obfuscated data while authorized users can access plain-text data.
- External Tokenization: External services are used to tokenize data before putting it into Snowflake, and then it is detokenized dynamically during query execution.
Masking Policies are schema-level objects that define criteria and functions to secure sensitive data while limiting access to authorized users.

Code Example –

				
					-- Dynamic Data Masking

CREATE MASKING POLICY employee_ssn_mask AS (val string) RETURNS string ->
  CASE
    WHEN CURRENT_ROLE() IN ('PAYROLL') THEN val
    ELSE '******'
  END;

-- External Tokenization

  CREATE MASKING POLICY employee_ssn_detokenize AS (val string) RETURNS string ->
  CASE
    WHEN CURRENT_ROLE() IN ('PAYROLL') THEN ssn_unprotect(VAL)
    ELSE val -- sees tokenized data
  END;

Row-Level Security

Row-level security controls access to specific rows in tables or views using specified policies. These rules use conditions and functions to govern access to SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, and MERGE operations. Administrators can add policies during or after table construction to get granular control over data visibility.

Object Tagging

Object tagging makes data management easier by allowing users to add metadata tags to Snowflake objects like tables and schemas. Tags are key-value pairs that allow for efficient data classification, tracking of sensitive data, and the implementation of tag-based access rules.

For example:

Create a tag named cost_center with ‘finance’ and ‘engineering’ as the only two allowed string values:

				
					create tag cost_center
    allowed_values 'finance', 'engineering';

Verify the allowed values:

				
					select get_ddl('tag', 'cost_center')

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GET_DDL('tag', 'cost_center')                                                |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| create or replace tag cost_center allowed_values = 'finance', 'engineering'; |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Modify the tag named cost_center to add ‘marketing’ as an allowed string value:

				
					alter tag cost_center
    add allowed_values 'marketing';

Modify the tag named cost_center to drop ‘engineering’ as an allowed string value:

				
					alter tag cost_center
    drop allowed_values 'engineering';

To obtain the list of allowed string values for a given tag, call either the GET_DDL function or the SYSTEM$GET_TAG_ALLOWED_VALUES function. For example, assuming that the tag cost_center is stored in a database named governance and a schema named tags:

				
					select system$get_tag_allowed_values('governance.tags.cost_center');

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| SYSTEM$GET_TAG_ALLOWED_VALUES('GOVERNANCE.TAGS.COST_CENTER') |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| ["finance","marketing"]                                      |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Tag-based Masking Policies

Masking policies are automatically applied to columns depending on their associated tags. This feature provides consistent protection across tagged columns, avoiding the need for manual policy assignments. It works neatly with column data types and prefers explicitly assigned masking policies to tag-based ones.

Data Classification

Snowflake’s data classification tool identifies and classifies columns that include personal or sensitive information. The EXTRACT_SEMANTIC_CATEGORIES function allows users to evaluate, review, and apply system tags to pertinent columns, easing compliance activities.

Object Dependencies

Object dependencies let users to trace links between Snowflake objects, thereby aiding impact analysis, data integrity, and regulatory compliance. This functionality is very useful for compliance officials who need to trace data back to its source.

Access History

The access history feature records every user activity involving data access and modification, including queries and SQL statements. It helps with regulatory compliance auditing, providing insights into frequently accessed data, and is accessible through the Account Usage ACCESS_HISTORY view.

Managing Access in Snowflake

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Processing just the new or modified data, rather than reloading the complete dataset, is fundamental to effective dynamic table management.

Snowflake’s RBAC ensures secure and organized access management by allocating roles and rights to user accounts. Roles (representing user groups), privileges (defining activities like SELECT or INSERT), and grants (which connect roles to privileges) are all important components. For example:

				
					-- Create a role
CREATE ROLE healthcare_data_analyst;

-- Grant privileges to the role
GRANT SELECT ON DATABASE patient_data TO ROLE healthcare_data_analyst;

-- Assign role to a user
GRANT ROLE healthcare_data_analyst TO USER jane_doe;

This configuration guarantees that only authorized users have access to specified datasets, hence improving security and compliance.

Fine-Grained Access Control

Snowflake provides comprehensive access control at the database, schema, table, and column level. Dynamic Data Masking, for example, safeguards critical fields by presenting masked data unless accessed by authorized roles.

				
					-- Create a masking policy
CREATE MASKING POLICY ssn_mask AS 
(val STRING) RETURNS STRING -> 
CASE 
  WHEN CURRENT_ROLE() IN ('data_admin') THEN val 
  ELSE 'XXX-XX-XXXX' 
END;

-- Apply the policy to a column
ALTER TABLE patient_data ADD MASKING POLICY ssn_mask ON ssn;

This policy ensures that sensitive information, such as social security numbers, stays confidential for unauthorized users while providing secure access to others.

Tracking Audit Trails in Snowflake

Importance of Audit Trails

Audit trails are critical for complying with standards such as HIPAA and GDPR because they record who accessed data, when, and how. They assist organizations in maintaining accountability, detecting unwanted access, and meeting reporting obligations. Typical audit requirements include monitoring query logs and spotting trends of sensitive data access.

				
					-- Cluster the dynamic table on frequently queried columns
ALTER TABLE dynamic_table
CLUSTER BY (update_time, id);

Snowflake’s Query History and Access Logs

Snowflake supports detailed tracking of user activity via query history and access logs, which are visible in INFORMATION_SCHEMA views. Administrators can utilize user activity logs to track certain people or durations.

				
					SELECT QUERY_TEXT, USER_NAME, START_TIME, END_TIME 
FROM TABLE(INFORMATION_SCHEMA.QUERY_HISTORY())
WHERE USER_NAME = 'jane_doe' 
  AND START_TIME >= '2025-01-01 00:00:00';

Integrating Audit Data with External Tools

Snowflake allows you to export audit data to other platforms for more extensive analysis. Snowpipe supports real-time connectivity with external dashboards, providing smooth monitoring and extended retention capabilities. This adaptability improves compliance and security across all platforms.

Best Practices for Implementing Snowflake Data Governance

Leverage Snowflake’s Built-in Features.

Snowflake’s governance solutions, like object tagging, dynamic data masking, row access controls, and object dependencies, can help you properly classify, secure, and audit data.

Define Data Policies and Procedures.

Create explicit policies on data quality, privacy, security, retention, and access. Regularly evaluate and update these policies to ensure their relevance and effectiveness.

Form a Dedicated Governance Team.

Form a Governance Council/Committee with specific functions, such as data stewards, managers, custodians, compliance officers, and data architects. This team enforces governance procedures that are matched with business requirements.

Develop a Governance Framework.

Implement a structured framework of rules, procedures, guidelines, and standards to ensure uniform data governance throughout the firm. Include escalation procedures for governance issues.

Ensure Robust Security Measures.

Implement security mechanisms such as access restriction, encryption, and data masking. Monitoring and incident response processes must be established to address security breaches as soon as possible.

Maintain High Data Quality Standards.

Implement validation, cleansing, and enrichment processes to assure data correctness, consistency, and reliability.

Utilize Automation and Monitoring Tools.

Set up tools to automate classification and enforce policies. Use monitoring technologies to track user access, detect security problems, and ensure data quality.

Conclusion

Implementing effective data governance in Snowflake is critical for guaranteeing data security, compliance, and dependability in today’s data-driven environment. Organizations can streamline data management by using Snowflake’s built-in governance tools, developing strong policies, forming a dedicated governance team, and implementing an organized framework. Implementing strong security measures, upholding data quality standards, and utilizing automation and monitoring tools improve governance procedures. A well-executed Snowflake data governance policy safeguards sensitive data and enables businesses to make educated decisions, build trust, and generate long-term success. Begin developing a durable data governance model immediately to realize Snowflake’s full potential.

If you’re ready to embark on this journey and need expert guidance, subscribe to our newsletter for more tips and insights, or contact us at Offsoar to learn how we can help you build a scalable data analytics pipeline that drives business success. Let’s work together to turn data into actionable insights and create a brighter future for your organization.