Data Classification

Data classification labels data assets by sensitivity level and category, enabling automated policy enforcement. The Governance Service supports both manual and automatic classification with batch processing.

Classification Model

Each classification record captures the sensitivity and category of a data resource:

Sensitivity Levels

Level	Description
`PUBLIC`	Publicly available, no restrictions
`INTERNAL`	Internal use only, general business data
`CONFIDENTIAL`	Restricted access, business-sensitive
`RESTRICTED`	Highly restricted, regulatory or PII/PHI/PCI

Data Categories

Category	Description
`PII`	Personally Identifiable Information (name, SSN, email)
`PHI`	Protected Health Information (medical records, diagnoses)
`PCI`	Payment Card Industry (card numbers, CVV)
`FINANCIAL`	Financial data (revenues, transactions)
`BUSINESS`	General business data
`PUBLIC`	Public information

Create Classification

Manually classify a data resource:

POST /api/v1/governance/classifications

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -H "X-User-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440099" \
  -d '{
    "resourceId": "warehouse.analytics.customer_data",
    "resourceType": "TABLE",
    "columnName": "social_security_number",
    "level": "RESTRICTED",
    "category": "PII",
    "confidence": 1.0,
    "justification": "Column contains SSN values confirmed by data steward"
  }'

Response

{
  "id": "cls-001",
  "tenantId": "550e8400-...",
  "resourceId": "warehouse.analytics.customer_data",
  "columnName": "social_security_number",
  "level": "RESTRICTED",
  "category": "PII",
  "confidence": 1.0,
  "classifiedBy": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440099",
  "verified": false,
  "createdAt": "2026-02-12T10:00:00Z"
}

Auto-Classify

Automatically classify a column based on its name and sample data patterns:

POST /api/v1/governance/classifications/auto

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications/auto" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -d '{
    "resourceId": "warehouse.raw.customer_profiles",
    "columnName": "email_address",
    "sampleValues": ["john@example.com", "jane@company.org", "admin@test.net"]
  }'

Response

{
  "id": "cls-002",
  "resourceId": "warehouse.raw.customer_profiles",
  "columnName": "email_address",
  "level": "CONFIDENTIAL",
  "category": "PII",
  "confidence": 0.95,
  "classificationMethod": "AUTO",
  "patternMatched": "EMAIL_PATTERN",
  "createdAt": "2026-02-12T10:05:00Z"
}

Batch Auto-Classify

Classify multiple columns in a single request:

POST /api/v1/governance/classifications/auto/batch

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications/auto/batch" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -d '[
    {
      "resourceId": "warehouse.raw.orders",
      "columnName": "credit_card_number",
      "sampleValues": ["4111111111111111", "5500000000000004"]
    },
    {
      "resourceId": "warehouse.raw.orders",
      "columnName": "billing_address",
      "sampleValues": ["123 Main St, City, ST 12345"]
    }
  ]'

Returns 202 Accepted -- batch classification runs asynchronously.

Query Classifications

Get Classifications for a Resource

GET /api/v1/governance/classifications?resourceId={resourceId}

curl "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications?resourceId=warehouse.raw.customer_profiles" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"

Get by Sensitivity Level

GET /api/v1/governance/classifications/by-level?level=RESTRICTED&page=0&size=20

Get by Data Category

GET /api/v1/governance/classifications/by-category?category=PII

Verify Classification

A data steward can verify a classification as accurate:

POST /api/v1/governance/classifications/{classificationId}/verify

curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications/cls-002/verify" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -H "X-User-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440099"

Update Classification

PUT /api/v1/governance/classifications/{classificationId}

Delete Classification

DELETE /api/v1/governance/classifications/{classificationId}

Classification Summary

Get an overview of classification coverage across the tenant:

GET /api/v1/governance/classifications/summary

curl "http://localhost:8080/api/v1/governance/classifications/summary" \
  -H "X-Tenant-ID: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"

Response

{
  "totalClassifications": 1247,
  "byLevel": {
    "PUBLIC": 320,
    "INTERNAL": 567,
    "CONFIDENTIAL": 289,
    "RESTRICTED": 71
  },
  "byCategory": {
    "PII": 145,
    "PHI": 23,
    "PCI": 18,
    "FINANCIAL": 89,
    "BUSINESS": 652,
    "PUBLIC": 320
  },
  "verifiedCount": 890,
  "unverifiedCount": 357,
  "autoClassifiedCount": 1023,
  "manualClassifiedCount": 224,
  "coveragePercent": 78.5
}

Source Reference

Component	File
Classification CRUD	`GovernanceController.java` -- classification endpoints
Auto-classification	`ClassificationService.java` -- `autoClassify()`, `batchAutoClassify()`
Classification model	`DataClassification.java`
Classification service	`ClassificationService.java`

Policy Management Data Masking