Glossary

A glossary of terminology used throughout the Transcend platform. These terms are typically highlighted in the documentation, where you can view the definition by hovering over it like so: (data subject).

A connection between Transcend and another system, like Salesforce, Slack, or your database. These are also data systems, but they are connected to Transcend and have purpose-built functionality.
A functionality available in an integration, such as System Discovery, Structured Discovery, Unstructured Discovery, or DSR Automation.
A notification from our system to yours, such as a notification for a new erasure request that triggers an account deletion job in your application.
Any individual person whose data is being processed. Typically these are your users.
A preference is a choice made by a user, which specifies how a business can use that user's data or how they can communicate with them. Preferences dictate how the business can use your data in the future. In Transcend, this can refer to any privacy setting, communication preference, or consent preference.
A record of all the actions performed in Transcend. Actions can be performed by people (such as admin users and data subjects) or systems (such as Transcend, your SaaS tools, or your own systems).
Transcend's security gateway which, if self-hosted, keeps your corporate data and API keys end-to-end encrypted, and not seen by Transcend.
Used to add custom metadata to any object in Transcend. For example, you may have a custom field named "Product Line" to track which of your products a processing activity relates to in your data inventory.
A method of encrypting data from the moment it's created to the moment it's consumed. When you self-host Sombra, your corporate data and API keys are end-to-end encrypted, preventing Transcend's cloud from having access to your corporate data.
Why you are using this data. The purpose for collecting, storing, or analyzing a type of data.
A store of data within your organization. This is any location where data is logically stored, like a database, a SaaS tool, an S3 bucket... or even a filing cabinet with paper documents!
A data object inside a data system. For example, the Lead object in Salesforce.
When Transcend automatically finds information about the data in your organization—such as a data system, datapoints, data flows, or cookies.
When Transcend automatically labels information in your organization, such as labeling a discovered data system as being a Snowflake data warehouse, labeling a datapoint as being a Biometric Identifier, or labeling a data flow as being sent to Facebook Ads for the purpose of Advertising.
A legal business entity in your organization, such as a subsidiary or brand.
If you have multiple Transcend organizations, one is the "parent" organization, and the others are "child" organizations. A parent organization has special permissions to manage child organizations and report on data from them.
A classification that describes what kind of data is stored in a datapoint or file, such as Contact Information, Financial Data, or Health Information. Data categories help organize and understand the sensitivity of personal data across your organization.
A field on an object or datapoint. For example, in a relational database, a property corresponds to a column name, and in Salesforce, it would be a field of a custom object.
The underlying business that you have a contractual relationship with. A vendor may have multiple products or data stores that are represented as Data Systems. For example, Google is the vendor, while Google Analytics and Google Ads would be separate Data Systems.
Record of Processing Activities. A structured document required under GDPR Article 30 that details how an organization collects, processes, stores, and shares personal data. Transcend can generate ROPA reports based on your Data Inventory.
A category of individual whose personal data is stored or processed in your systems, such as customers, employees, or business contacts. Data Inventory tracks which data subjects are associated with each data system and datapoint.
A unique value used to identify an individual across your data stack, such as email address, user ID, or phone number. The Identifiers tab in Data Inventory lists all identifiers used across your systems.
A chronological record of all changes made to your Data Inventory. The Audit Trail tab shows who made changes, what was changed, and when the change occurred, providing accountability and transparency.
The practice of limiting data collection to only what is necessary for specified purposes, and retaining that data only for as long as needed. The Data Inventory helps identify opportunities for data minimization.
Customizable exports from your Data Inventory that provide insights into your data landscape, including ROPA reports, vendor assessments, and data mapping documentation.
A classification method that identifies data categories by analyzing column names and field labels without examining the actual data content.
A classification method that uses custom pattern-matching rules to identify specific data formats in content samples.
The technique used to identify what type of personal data is contained in a datapoint, such as property name matching, regular expressions, or AI-based analysis.
A datapoint that has been automatically classified but not yet manually verified by a human reviewer.
The process of automatically identifying the structure of tables, columns, and relationships in a connected data store.
The process of automatically identifying what types of personal data are contained in discovered datapoints.
Data that does not have a predefined schema or data model, such as documents, PDFs, emails, presentations, and other file formats that don't fit neatly into tables and columns.
The process of scanning connected data stores to identify all objects and files that may contain personal data.
The process of examining portions of unstructured files to identify personal data patterns, with limits on how much data is analyzed.
An AI technique used to identify personal data within unstructured content by recognizing names, locations, contact information, and other personal identifiers in context.
The process of analyzing the contents of unstructured files to identify and categorize personal data according to your data categories.
Also known as "DSR". Individual rights request, such as a request to access, delete, or correct personal data.
A request from an individual to obtain a copy of their personal data.
A type of data subject request, like "Download my data" or "Delete my data".
A unique identifier for a user, like an email address, phone number, or user ID. Transcend uses identifiers to precisely find a user's personal data across your data systems.
The process of adding more identifiers to a data subject request, based on a trusted mapping of identifiers in your data systems.
A phase in a DSR workflow performed before the request is fulfilled, to confirm that the request can be processed, and to add additional identifiers to a request.
A scheduled task that runs at a specific time or interval. In Transcend, your systems can run cron jobs that batch process pending data subject requests.
A system or service that contains personal data, such as a database, SaaS application, or file storage system. In DSR Automation, data systems are connected to process requests across all personal data repositories.
The current state of a data subject request in its lifecycle, such as "Request Made," "Preflight," "Compiling," or "Completed".
The source from which a data subject request was received, such as the Privacy Center, API, or Admin Dashboard.
A method of fulfilling DSRs by automatically sending emails to vendors who hold personal data, requesting them to take action on behalf of the data subject.
A connection between Transcend and a specific data system that enables automatic processing of DSRs within that system.
The end-to-end process of handling a data subject request, from receipt through verification, processing, and completion.
An entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data. In DSR Automation, different workflows can be configured depending on whether you're acting as a data controller.
An entity that processes personal data on behalf of a data controller. In DSR Automation, specific workflows can be configured for data processor scenarios.
A JavaScript library that runs on your website to regulate data collection in accordance with a user's consent preferences.
Anonymous data collected from real web sessions, used to discover your data flows and cookies.
A user's choice to allow or deny data collection for a particular purpose.
A URL that you are sending user data to, such as connect.facebook.net. This is network traffic that is automatically discovered by Transcend.
The vendor or system behind the data flow. For example, a data flow to px.ads.linkedin.com would have the service LinkedIn Ads. The URLs can be very obscure, so data flows are automatically classified by Transcend and labeled with their associated service.
A small piece of data stored on a user's browser and attached to data flows, often used to track user behavior.
The pages on your website where a particular data flow or cookie was observed.
The number of users who encountered a particular data flow or cookie.
A geographic location, which can be used to set regionalized consent experiences and airgap.js configurations. A user's region is automatically detected by Transcend through a variety of privacy-preserving methods.
A legal regime, such as GDPR or CCPA, which can be used to set consent experiences and airgap.js configurations.
Your instance of Transcend's consent manager, which is configured to run on your website or mobile app. There are two separate bundles: Test and Production.
Software Development Kit. This is third-party code installed in your mobile app, which often is used to track user behavior and send data to third-party services.
Transparency and Consent Framework. A standard made by the International Advertising Bureau (IAB) for signaling a user's consent preferences to your advertising vendors.
A configuration that defines how consent is collected and managed for users from specific regions or under specific privacy regimes. Includes UI elements, default settings, and applicable consent purposes.
A feature in airgap.js that temporarily stores blocked network requests locally, allowing them to be replayed later if the user provides consent.
A browser security feature that airgap.js can use to enforce consent choices by controlling which network requests are allowed.
A capability in airgap.js that allows network requests to be modified on the fly, enabling privacy-enhancing transformations like parameter changes or PII redaction.
A browser setting that signals a user's desire to opt out of the sale or sharing of their personal information. Abbreviated as GPC.
A browser signal that indicates a user does not wish to be tracked across websites. Abbreviated as DNT.
A category that defines why data is being collected, such as Analytics, Advertising, or Functional. Used to group data flows and manage consent for them collectively.
Predefined modifications that airgap.js can apply to common third-party services to enhance privacy, such as enabling YouTube's Privacy-Enhanced Mode.
The specific consent banner or interface that is shown to users based on their region and applicable privacy regime.
The time period after which a user's consent is considered expired and may need to be recollected.
A preference dataset stored in the Preference Database. These are often used to separate staging and production environments, or for multi-national organizations, to give users the ability make different choices across different brands.
A unique identifier for a partition in the Preference Store, used to separate different sets of preference data within a single Transcend instance.
The central database where all user preferences and consent choices are stored, tracked, and managed within Transcend.
A top-level category representing a specific type of business activity that requires user permission, such as Marketing Communications or Sale of Information. Purposes are boolean (true/false) values.
A more granular preference option associated with a parent purpose that allows users to make specific choices, like communication frequency or content types. Can be single-select or multi-select.
A configured set of actions that Transcend performs when a user updates a preference, such as updating connected systems with the new preference value.
A process that requires users to confirm their consent choice through email verification before the preference is updated in systems, often used for regulatory compliance.
Any interface or touchpoint where user preferences can be captured, such as a Privacy Center, web form, email footer, or customer service call.
Privacy policies, consent notices, or any other policies you wish to publish for your users.
A category of personal data that you collect, presented in a user-friendly format in the Privacy Center. Examples include "Contact Information" or "Website Activity".
A description of how you use personal data or who you share it with, displayed in the Privacy Center to provide transparency about your data practices.
The overall representation of how your organization collects, uses, and shares personal data, as displayed to users in the Privacy Center.
The process of confirming that a person submitting a privacy request is who they claim to be, typically through email verification, login, or other authentication methods.
A user interface in the Privacy Center where individuals can submit requests related to their personal data, such as access, deletion, or correction requests.
A section of the Privacy Center where users can view and manage their privacy preferences and consent choices.
A specific category of privacy request that users can submit, such as "Access My Data" or "Delete My Data".
Potential compliance issues found on your website.
A customizable questionnaire for assessing your data processing activities.
Large Language Model. A type of AI model that can understand and generate human language.
A set of rules that determine how data can flow into (or out of) a large language model (LLM).
An AI agent specialized in a particular task, like extracting vendor information from a contract.
The software tools that an AI assistant can use to complete a task.