Configuring Data Lineage and Auto-Draw: Best Practices

OneTrust Data Mapping Automation technology enables your organization to better understand how data is used throughout your organization. With a best-in-class user experience, flexible data discovery methods, and a powerful automation engine, OneTrust helps quickly build and maintain your organization’s inventories and data maps. Powered in part with OneTrust PIA & DPIA Automation technology, the tool auto-identifies risks, as well as provides research-backed mitigation recommendations.

In Data Mapping Automation, you can create a lineage diagram to visualize what assets, vendors, entities, and data subjects are related to a specific processing activity and what role they perform in the process. The diagram also shows how the data involved in a processing activity travels between data subjects, assets, vendors, and entities. Lineage diagrams allow you to see the complex connections between different data subjects and inventory records related to a processing activity in one unified view.

A visual representation of data lineage can be diagrammed for processing activitie. The diagrams are populated based on the assets, vendors, entities, and data subject types that are linked to the process. The related items that populate the lineage diagram represent a processing activity's related records, which can be viewed in the Related tab of the processing activity's inventory details. The diagram is divided into different swim lanes that indicate data subject types, source/collection, storage/processing, destination/access, parties with access, and archive/destroy.

Create relationships using assessments

You can capture the information needed to populate data lineage through assessments on processing activities. Use OneTrust's out of the box Processing Activity Template from the template gallery or customize your own. If you're customizing your own, here are some tips. For more information, see Updating Inventory Records with Assessments.

• Ensure you have a processing activity question set up as the primary record in the template. The primary record indicates the object that the assessment is about and will drive the logic and relationships created from the respondent's answers.

  
  
  

• Personal data questions determine how data subject types are plotted in the data lineage diagram. You can include a personal data question in your template and link it to the primary record question by clicking the link icon on the personal data question in the Template Builder.

  
  
  
  
  

• Include asset, vendor, or legal entity inventory questions in your template and link them to the processing activity question by clicking the link icon. Use a Source/Collection, Storage/Processing, or Destination/Access link type.

  
  
  

Once the assessment is completed and approved, the relationships will appear in your inventories.

Create relationships in your inventories

In addition to using assessments, you can also configure the relationships necessary to populate your lineage diagram directly on an inventory record's Related tab. Lineage diagrams are based on the structure of relationships between a processing activity and its related records.

Assets, vendors, and legal entities can be linked to a processing activity through the Related tab of the processing activity, inventory questions on assessments, and the bulk import template Create Inventory Links.

Data subject types can be linked to a processing activity through the Related tab of the processing activity, personal data questions on assessments, and the bulk import template Link Personal Data to Inventories.

For more information, see Relating Inventories.

Indicate an inventory relationship type

When you link inventories, its important to indicate a specific relationship type whenever applicable. The relationship types you choose will determine where your inventory object icon populates on your data lineage diagram. For more information, see About Inventory Linking and Relationships.

Note:

Though you can indicate that two records are related with a generic Related link type, these relationships will not populate on a lineage diagram.

Use the Auto-Draw button to automatically plot your data flow

Once you have linked inventory records and/or data subjects to a processing activity, you can create a Data Lineage diagram in the Lineage tab of a processing activity record. Clicking the Auto-Draw button will generate a lineage diagram that structurally represents the relationships between your records. Once created, you can manually add icons or arrange existing ones to better represent the flow of data.

Note:

Auto-Draw will overwrite any manual changes to your diagram.

Click on a mapped object to reveal details in the side pane.

Add labels to transfer lines using the Inspector. To open the Inspector, hover over the transfer line until the Settings icon appears. Click the icon to open the Inspector pane.

When you've finished configuring your diagram, click the Save button to add it to your list of lineage diagrams in Data Lineage.

Click the Print icon to print or export your lineage diagram.