{
  "id": "dwd_zx3rfw43",
  "type": "term",
  "slug": "critical-data-element",
  "title": "Critical data element (CDE)",
  "summary": "A data element important enough to the business to require extra governance: an owner, quality rules, documented lineage and monitoring.",
  "status": "draft",
  "classification": "public",
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Shan Umasankar",
      "url": "https://dealwithdata.com",
      "role": "author"
    }
  ],
  "assisted_by": [
    "Claude"
  ],
  "scales": [
    "personal",
    "business",
    "enterprise"
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    "CDE"
  ],
  "broader": [
    "dwd_tthoszn7"
  ],
  "related": [
    "dwd_wg5zzqg2",
    "dwd_2p63wxfx"
  ],
  "created": "2026-10-07",
  "updated": "2026-10-07",
  "version": 1,
  "url": "https://dealwithdata.com/glossary/critical-data-element/",
  "markdown_url": "https://dealwithdata.com/glossary/critical-data-element.md",
  "body_markdown": "A CDE is a [[business-element]] flagged as critical, usually because it feeds regulatory reports, financial statements or key risk decisions. The flag makes governance mandatory: a named owner, defined [[data-quality]] rules, documented [[data-lineage]] and active monitoring.\n\n**Example:** *Mortgage Outstanding Balance* feeds capital and liquidity reporting, so it is a CDE.\n\n**Three scales**\n- *Personal:* the account numbers and balances your tax return depends on.\n- *Business:* revenue and customer counts in your board report.\n- *Enterprise:* the few thousand fields that regulators and auditors trace end to end.\n"
}