---
title: "Data provenance"
description: "Information about the entities, activities and people involved in producing data, used to judge its quality and trustworthiness."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/data-provenance
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Data provenance

Information about the entities, activities and people involved in producing data, used to judge its quality and trustworthiness [1]. In practice: where a dataset originally came from and on what terms (source, licence, lawful basis). Perfect lineage over unknown provenance is still ungoverned.

- Developed in: [ch. 14, Provenance versus lineage](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development#provenance-versus-lineage); [ch. 12, Updating the policies you already have](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governance-program#updating-the-policies-you-already-have)
- Chapters: [ch. 12, Governance Program](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governance-program) · [ch. 14, Development](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-development)
- Contrast with: [Data lineage](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/data-lineage)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-data-provenance

## Commonly confused

- **Data provenance** vs **Data lineage**: Where the data came from and on what terms, against the path it took through your own pipelines Perfect lineage over unknown provenance is still ungoverned; erasure and disgorgement need both

## Sources

[1] PROV Overview (PROV-DM and PROV-O W3C Recommendations of 30 April 2013; provenance as information about the entities, activities and people involved in producing data). W3C. 2013-04-30. https://www.w3.org/TR/prov-overview/ (verified: primary)