What type of data security ensures information cannot be altered while stored?

The concept of ensuring that information cannot be altered while stored is best captured by the principle of data integrity. Data integrity refers to the accuracy, consistency, and trustworthiness of data over its lifecycle. This principle ensures that data remains unaltered and is exact, reflecting the original input and associated business rules.

In practice, data integrity encompasses mechanisms such as checksums, validation checks, and error detection techniques that confirm data remains intact. It also involves protocols that guarantee data is written securely and that any changes made are tracked and authorized.

While secure data, data privacy, and data availability are important aspects of overall data security, they focus on other facets. Secure data relates to protecting information from unauthorized access or breaches. Data privacy emphasizes how personal information is handled and protected. Data availability ensures that data is accessible when needed by users. None of these directly address the specific need for preventing alterations to data once it has been stored, which is why data integrity is the accurate choice for this question.