Glossary
Chain of custody
Quick answer
A documented record of who held, accessed or changed something, and when, from collection to delivery.
The term comes from legal evidence handling. For data, it means being able to show where a dataset came from, who prepared it, what was changed and how it was handed over.
AI buyers increasingly ask for this record during diligence. A clean chain of custody supports the data's provenance and the supplier's warranty that it has the right to license it.
Why Chain of custody matters when licensing company data to AI
Chain of custody is a documented record of who held, accessed or changed a dataset, and when, from collection through delivery. For licensed records, it shows where the data came from, who prepared it, what was changed and how it was handed over. AI buyers often ask for this record during diligence, since it supports both the data's provenance and the supplier's right to license it.
- 01Your work records
- 02Personal details removed
- 03You approve the release
- 04Licensed to AI developers
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