Data Governance

The Age of Innocent Data

Governance, lineage, and the social consequences of pretending columns are harmless

Edith Wharton · 11 July 2026

No data is truly innocent once it has been invited into a dashboard.

Wharton maps the etiquette of analytical systems, where lineage, ownership, and consent determine who may know what and when. This is a guide to catalogues, quality checks, stewardship, and the subtle scandal of a spreadsheet with no provenance.

Contents

  1. Newland Archer Opens the Data Catalogue
  2. The Mingott Family Defines Ownership
  3. Lineage in a Room Full of Expectations
  4. Countess Olenska Requests Erasure

Published by Austenpunk, the distinguished imprint for engineers who believe that every production incident would be improved by a stronger sense of narrative irony.

This essential volume combines literary feeling, technical anxiety, and just enough documentation to suggest that somebody once understood the system.

Cover of The Age of Innocent Data
× Cover of The Age of Innocent Data