National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO/IEC 38505‑1:2026. It supersedes BS ISO/IEC 38505‑1:2017, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee IST/60/1, Governance of Information Technology.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).

ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO and IEC take no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO and IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents and https://patents.iec.ch. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html. In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.

This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC/JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee SC 40, IT service management and IT governance.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO/IEC 38505‑1:2017), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

alignment with ISO/IEC 38500:2024, which is itself aligned to ISO 37000.

A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 38505 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and www.iec.ch/national-committees.

Introduction

The objective of this document is to provide principles, definitions and a model for governing bodies to use when evaluating, directing and monitoring the handling and use of data in their organizations.

This document is high-level, principles-based and advisory. In addition to providing broad guidance on the role of a governing body, it encourages organizations to use appropriate standards to underpin their governance of data.

All organizations use data; and the major proportion of the data is stored electronically across IT systems. With the advent of cloud computing, the realization of the potential of the “internet of things” and the increasing use of “big data” analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), data have become easier to generate, gather, store and mine for useful information. This flood of data brings with it an urgent requirement and responsibility for governing bodies to ensure that valuable opportunities are leveraged, and sensitive data are protected and secured.

Governance of data plays a critical role in ensuring the responsible, innovative, sustainable, and ethical use of data.

Governance of data is an ongoing practice, adapting to the evolving data landscape.

This document has been prepared to provide guidance to the members of governing bodies to apply a principles-based approach to the governance of data to increase the value of the data while preventing the risks associated with the data. ISO/IEC 38500 provides principles, model, and framework for the governing bodies of organizations to guide their current use and to plan for their future use of Information technology (IT), and this document concerns the application of ISO/IEC 38500. While this document describes the governance of data and its use within an organization, guidance on the implementation arrangement for the effective governance of IT in general is found in ISO/IEC/TS 38501. The constructs in ISO/IEC/TS 38501 can help to identify internal and external factors relating to the governance of IT and help to define beneficial outcomes and identify evidence of success.

The use of AI and the growth of data have created extensive opportunities for the analysis and use of data in decision making. Because legal regulations sometimes lag behind or are not developed, it is up to an organization to ensure the ethical use of data.

As with ISO/IEC 38500, this document is addressed primarily to the governing body of an organization and applies equally regardless of the size of the organization or its industry or sector. The principles of this document can be relevant for the governing bodies of data exchange networks, platforms, spaces and for other inter-organizational data governance contexts. However, the inter-organizational aspects of data governance are outside the scope of this document.

Governance is distinct from management and concerns evaluating, directing and monitoring the use of data, rather than the mechanics of storing, retrieving or managing the data. This document outlines an understanding of various data management and techniques to enunciate the strategies and policies that can be directed by the governing body.

1 Scope

This document provides principles for governing bodies of organizations (which can comprise owners, directors, partners, executive managers, or similar) on the effective, efficient and acceptable use of data within their organizations by:

applying the governance principles and model of ISO/IEC 38500 to the governance of data;
assuring stakeholders that, if the principles and practices proposed by this document are followed, they can have confidence in the organization’s governance of data;
informing and guiding governing bodies in the use and protection of data in their organizations.

This document can also provide guidance to a wider community, including:

executive managers;
external businesses or technical specialists, such as legal or accounting specialists, retail or industrial associations, or professional bodies;
internal and external service providers (including consultants);
auditors.

This document applies to the governance of the current and future use of data that is created, collected, stored, secured, protected, or controlled by IT systems, and impacts the management processes and decisions relating to data.

This document defines the governance of data as a subset or domain of the governance of IT, which itself is a subset or domain of organizational, or in the case of a corporation, corporate governance.

This document is applicable to all organizations, including public and private companies, government entities, and not-for-profit organizations. This document is applicable to organizations of all sizes, regardless of the extent of their dependence on data.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Good governance of data

4.1 General

4.2 Effective performance

4.3 Responsible stewardship

4.4 Ethical behaviour

4.5 Benefits of good governance of data

4.6 Responsibilities of the governing body

4.7 Governing body and oversight mechanisms

5 Principles, model and aspects for good governance of data

6 Data accountability

6.1 General

6.2 Collect

6.3 Store

6.4 Report

6.5 Decide

6.6 Distribute

6.7 Dispose

7 Guidance for the governance of data — Principles

8 Guidance for the governance of data — Model

8.1 General

8.2 Model for the governance of data

8.3 Engage stakeholders

8.4 Evaluate

8.5 Direct

8.6 Monitor

9 Guidance for the governance of data — Data-specific aspects

9.1 General

9.2 Value

9.3 Risk

9.4 Constraints

10 Application of the data accountability map

Bibliography