Which individual has the authority to grant or deny access to data and applications?

The data owner is the individual who has the ultimate authority to grant or deny access to data and applications. This role typically involves responsibility for determining who can access specific data, based on the sensitivity and confidentiality of that data as well as the business needs.

Data owners are usually involved in establishing policies regarding data usage, security measures, and access control. They ensure that the data is handled in compliance with the organization's governance policies and legal regulations, which also includes assigning appropriate levels of access to users based on their roles and responsibilities.

While other roles, such as data custodians, application administrators, and security administrators, play critical parts in managing and protecting the data, they do not typically possess the authority to make the final decisions on access rights. Data custodians manage the storage and maintenance of the data without the power to authorize access, application administrators manage the software applications but usually work under the guidelines set by the data owner, and security administrators enforce security policies but rely on the data owner's directives when it comes to granting or denying data access.