In every organization, data is growing — fast. 

Customer profiles, financial transactions, health records, operational reports — they’re all being captured, stored, and analyzed at unprecedented scale. In the age of cloud computing and decentralized teams, data moves faster and lives in more places than ever before. 

But while data is accelerating business, it’s also escalating risk. 

The problem? Most organizations don’t know what sensitive data they’re actually storing — or where it resides. That lack of visibility makes it nearly impossible to: 

• Understand what needs to be protected 

• Apply access controls consistently 

• Demonstrate compliance with regulations like PCI, HIPAA or GDPR 

• Respond quickly to audits, breaches, or internal investigations 

And in that blind spot, risk grows. 

Sensitive data may be sitting in ungoverned tables, duplicated across systems, or exposed to users who shouldn’t have access. Worse, many organizations find out about these risks only after an incident has already occurred. 

That’s why data classification isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s non-negotiable. 

The Visibility Gap: Why Security Starts with Knowing What You Have 

This visibility gap is what most organizations are dealing with, and it’s a foundational issue, not just a technical one. Because every downstream security control, from access management to encryption to policy enforcement, depends on knowing: 

• What types of sensitive data exist in your environment 

• Where that data is stored — across warehouses, databases, and platforms 

• Who has access to it — and whether they should 

• How it’s being used — for legitimate purposes or not 

Without this baseline, your data security program is built on guesswork. 

What is Data Classification & Why Does it Matter? 

That’s where data classification comes in. 

Data classification is the process of scanning your data estate to identify sensitive information — and labeling it based on sensitivity, regulation, or usage. It gives organizations the ability to discover and organize what was previously invisible. 

Classification turns risk into clarity. 

You’re no longer relying on gut instinct or manually maintained data inventories. Instead, you get a real-time, evidence-based view of your data landscape — where high-risk data is located, how it’s distributed, and how to protect it. 

With classification, every security and compliance decision is grounded in fact, not assumption. 

At ALTR, we’ve built a data classification engine that makes this process easy, scalable and secure — so you can go from uncertainty to control. 

>>> You Might Also Like: Snowflake Data Classification: DIY vs ALTR

How to Find and Classify Sensitive Data with ALTR 

ALTR’s data classification engine works behind the scenes to scan your data sources for potential risks, without compromising performance or privacy. 

Here’s how it works: 

Smart Sampling: Instead of scanning every row, ALTR uses a sampling approach that randomly selects data from each column. This reduces load on your system while still providing a statistically valid picture of what’s inside. 

Privacy-First Design: Samples are scrambled to break apart full rows and prevent identification of individual records. The full-row sample is never stored or logged. 

>>> You Might Also Like: Discover Sensitive Data with Ease Using ALTR Data Classification

Deep Analysis: The classification engine scans the sample for patterns that indicate sensitive data, such as: 

• Names, email addresses and Social Security numbers 

• Credit card and bank account numbers 

• Health records and insurance info 

• IP addresses and physical locations 

Real-Time Visibility Into Policy Gaps: ALTR’s Data Protection Metrics Dashboard gives you real-time insight on where sensitive data is tagged but lacks policy enforcement. This helps you identify compliance gaps, assess risk posture and monitor the effectiveness of your data protection strategy. 

Whether you’re using a native engine like Snowflake’s or an integrated tool like Google DLP, ALTR handles the sampling, tagging and reporting — so your team doesn’t have to. 

From Discovery to Action 

Finding sensitive data is just the first step. Once classification is complete, ALTR helps you put that knowledge to work: 

Automated Access Controls 
Classification results can drive real-time policy enforcement, limiting access to sensitive data based on role or context. 

Tagging for Better Management 
ALTR can automatically apply tags to sensitive columns in your data warehouse, making it easier to track and organize data based on risk. 

Compliance Made Easier 
Classification reports show exactly what kinds of data are stored where, helping you meet requirements for frameworks like HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. 

Security That Scales 
With better visibility, your security efforts become more focused, reducing risk while improving efficiency. 

Classification Is the Foundation of Data Security 

You can’t encrypt what you haven’t identified. You can’t restrict access to data you don’t know exists. And you can’t comply with regulations if you can’t prove where your sensitive data lives. 

Data classification fills those gaps. It gives you the clarity you need to act with confidence — whether that means locking down a column, proving compliance or building trust with your customers. 

With ALTR, classification is fast, privacy-conscious, and fully integrated into your data security strategy. 

Ready to make your data visible — and secure? 
Let ALTR help you classify, tag and protect what matters most. Book a product tour.

Key Takeaways 

• Data growth equals data risk. As organizations collect more customer, financial, and operational data, the risk of exposure and non-compliance increases — especially when you lack visibility.

• You can’t secure what you can’t see. Without classification, sensitive data may remain hidden across systems, unprotected and vulnerable to unauthorized access or breaches.

• Classification creates clarity. By identifying and labeling sensitive data types, organizations can make smarter, faster decisions around access control, encryption, and compliance.

• ALTR makes classification scalable and safe. Using smart sampling and privacy-first design, ALTR classifies data without compromising performance or exposing individual records.

• Insights become action. With ALTR, classification leads directly to better access controls, easier audit preparation, structured tagging, and real-time visibility into policy gaps.

• Security starts here. Classification isn’t a checkbox — it’s the foundation for every effective data security and governance strategy.