--- title: Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How... description: A guide covering data classification fundamentals including sensitivity levels (public, internal, confidential, restricted), classification types driven by... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How to Automate It | daily.dev og:description: A guide covering data classification fundamentals including sensitivity levels (public, internal, confidential, restricted), classification types driven by... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/shIaZn76f.png og:image:alt: Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How to Automate It og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How to Automate It **[Decube](https://daily.dev/sources/decuberss)** · 19 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A guide covering data classification fundamentals including sensitivity levels (public, internal, confidential, restricted), classification types driven by regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, and approaches to automating data labeling across a data stack. The content also touches on related concepts such as data governance, metadata management, data lineage, and data observability, with references to platforms like Decube and Atlan for implementing classification workflows. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What are the four data classification sensitivity levels used in enterprise data governance? The four standard sensitivity levels are public, internal, confidential, and restricted. Public data carries no risk if disclosed. Internal data is for employees only. Confidential data includes PII, financial records, and regulated information requiring access controls. Restricted data is the most sensitive — trade secrets, regulated health data — and requires the strictest controls and audit trails. _Teams enforcing these levels across a growing data stack track classification policy changes on daily.dev._ ### How is data classification different from metadata management? Data classification assigns sensitivity labels and access policies to data assets based on content and regulatory requirements. Metadata management is the broader discipline of collecting, storing, and governing descriptive information about data. Classification is one output of metadata management — it uses metadata to determine how data should be protected and who can access it. _Data governance practitioners keeping up with classification tooling and standards follow the topic on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Automating Data Governance with Snowflake’s Sensitive Data Classification](https://daily.dev/posts/automating-data-governance-with-snowflake-s-sensitive-data-classification-zadkarg1a) · Faun · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI Data Classification: Methods, Tools & Best Practices](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-data-classification-methods-tools-best-practices-l87gpiuld) · Orca Security Blog · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Select the Right Data Discovery and Classification Tool: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://daily.dev/posts/select-the-right-data-discovery-and-classification-tool-a-step-by-step-guide-yrrgcaqse) · Decube · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Find Sensitive Data at Scale with Data Classification in Unity Catalog](https://daily.dev/posts/find-sensitive-data-at-scale-with-data-classification-in-unity-catalog-bgybjncs0) · databricks · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A Boolean PII Flag Is Not Enough](https://daily.dev/posts/a-boolean-pii-flag-is-not-enough-sixmzobum) · Tech Lead Digest · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#big-data](https://daily.dev/tags/big-data), [#data-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/data-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How to Automate It","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f"},"datePublished":"2026-08-07T20:14:53.261Z","dateModified":"2026-08-07T20:15:16.717Z","description":"A guide covering data classification fundamentals including sensitivity levels (public, internal, confidential, restricted), classification types driven by...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ZrL_HSsR--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2006","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ZrL_HSsR--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2006","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Decube","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Decube","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/dd1c1e4693b646ad9a094379c0f896f4","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/decuberss"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"big-data,data-engineering","timeRequired":"PT19M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Decube","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/decuberss"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Data Classification: Types, Sensitivity Levels, and How to Automate It"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-classification-types-sensitivity-levels-and-how-to-automate-it-shiazn76f#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What are the four data classification sensitivity levels used in enterprise data governance?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The four standard sensitivity levels are public, internal, confidential, and restricted. 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