Empowering Collaboration- Secure Data Sharing with Snowflake

Solution:

Phase 1: Design and Data Preparation

• Worked with internal and external stakeholders to understand what data needed to be shared, why, and with whom.
• Built Snowflake views with appropriate aggregations, anonymization, and pseudonymization to balance insight and privacy.
• Mapped out how Snowflake’s built-in security features aligned with HIPAA and FERPA requirements.

Phase 2: Secure Sharing Implementation

• Created ‘Shares’ to grant external Snowflake accounts secure access to curated data without physical data movement. The client served as the data provider, while partners (universities, hospitals, and agencies) acted as data consumers.

• Implemented fine-grained security using RBAC, row/column-level access control, and dynamic data masking to tailor access.

• Governance framework with defined internal workflows for approving new data shares, managing access, and tracking changes to the shared datasets.

Phase 3: Automation and Monitoring

• Set up automated ELT workflows to update underlying datasets so that shared views remained fresh and accurate.

• Enabled query logging and usage metrics to monitor partner activity and ensure full auditability for compliance purposes.

• Established secure support lines for partners to request access, ask questions, and troubleshoot access or data-related issues.