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Data integrity denotes the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data throughout its lifecycle. It includes safeguards against accidental or malicious alteration and mechanisms for detection and correction of errors. Maintaining data integrity is essential for trust, regulatory compliance, and sound decision-making across systems and business processes.
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Data integrity is the goal of keeping data correct, consistent, and reliable throughout its lifecycle.
In databases, file systems, and information security, data integrity was sharpened as a response to errors, failures, and unauthorized alteration. Relational models made constraints, keys, and validation rules central; security frameworks such as NIST SP 800-53 treat integrity as a protection objective, and PostgreSQL shows how such rules are enforced directly in the schema.
Think of data integrity as a control chain along the data path. At capture time, validation checks format, type, and required fields. In storage, constraints and transactions keep states within allowed bounds. During transfer and retention, checksums or hashes compare the expected state with the actual one. The later an error is found, the more expensive it is to correct.
Inputs are checked before or during write for format, value range, and completeness.
Schema and database rules prevent or flag states that are not allowed by the domain.
Digests help detect changes in data or in transmission.
Atomicity means all-or-nothing execution; Consistency keeps transactions within valid states; Isolation separates concurrent transactions; Durability preserves committed changes permanently.
Physical integrity protects storage and transfer; logical integrity protects the business meaning of the data.
The concept is useful for schema design, ETL, APIs, audits, and recovery after failures. It matters most when multiple systems change the same data or when data must be retained for a long time. More checks also add overhead, latency, and rule complexity; integrity does not replace access control or good governance.
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