Which artifact records data origins and transformations to support debugging and compliance?

• A. Audit log.
• B. Data dictionary.
• C. Data lineage.
• D. Data provenance report.

Answer: (C)

Data lineage provides the end-to-end view of a data element’s life, tracing where it came from and all the transformations it underwent as it moved through systems and pipelines. This explicit map of data origins and the steps applied to it is exactly what you need for debugging—so you can pinpoint where a value changed or where a quality issue was introduced—and for compliance, by providing an auditable trail of data movement and processing.

Audit logs capture events like who accessed or changed something, but they don’t always show how a data value flowed or what transformations it experienced. A data dictionary documents the structure and metadata of data assets, not their journey or lineage. A data provenance report is related and often overlaps with lineage, but data lineage is the established term that emphasizes the complete path and changes a data element experiences, which is most useful for debugging and regulatory traceability.