Data Integrity, Backup, Security and the Role of Stakeholders

A system is only as trustworthy as the data it holds. This lesson examines how organizations protect data through integrity, backup, and security measures, and then turns to the people — the stakeholders — whose needs shape the system and from whom requirements must be gathered.

Data integrity versus data security

These two ideas are often confused but are distinct. Data integrity means that data is accurate, complete, and consistent — that it correctly represents reality and has not been corrupted or altered by accident. Data security means protecting data from unauthorized access, loss, or malicious change. Integrity is about being correct; security is about being protected. A record can be perfectly secure yet wrong (poor integrity), or perfectly accurate yet exposed to intruders (poor