Create a lineage for a processing activity

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read

    • Establish a lineage to visualize data consumption, sharing, and the associated risks for a processing activity. Each processing activity involves multiple information objects classified as personal information. These objects exchange data with various other entities, making it essential to establish a lineage or hierarchy that tracks where personal data is shared.

    Before you begin

    The processing activity must be in Discover state or later. If the processing activity is in New state, move it to Discover before proceeding.

    Role required: Privacy analyst, Privacy manager, Privacy admin

    About this task

    Establish a lineage to visualize data consumption, sharing, and the associated risks for a processing activity. Each processing activity could involve multiple entities such as vendors, applications, and systems that make up the processing activity. These vendors, applications, and systems share data with each other, making it essential to establish a lineage that tracks where personal data is shared. This helps mitigate privacy-related risks.

    You add lineage relationships from the Hierarchy tab using the Add button. The Add screen is a two-step flow. In the first step you define the relationship, and in the second step you provide the relationship details.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to Workspaces > Privacy Workspace > Processing activities > All processing activities.
    2. Navigate to the Hierarchy tab.
    3. Select Add.
    4. In the Primary node field, review the pre-selected record.
      This field is automatically set to the processing activity you have open. You can change the primary node to any other node that has been linked with the processing activity.
    5. In the Relationship Type field, select the relationship type that describes how this processing activity relates to the node you want to add.
      Select from the following options:
      1. Depends on: The primary node depends on the related node for data. Data flows from the related node to the primary node.
      2. Contains: The primary node contains the related node. Data flows from the primary node to the related node.
      3. Contained by: The primary node is contained by the related node. Data flows from the related node to the primary node.
      4. Sends data to: The primary node sends data to the related node. Data flows from the primary node to the related node.
      5. Receives data from: The primary node receives data from the related node. Data flows from the related node to the primary node.
      6. Used by: The primary node is used by the related node. Data flows from the primary node to the related node.
    6. In the Related Node Type field, select the type of entity you want to add.
      The available types are Processing Activity, Entity, Business Application, Business Process, Business Service, Company, and Vendor.
    7. In the Related Node field, select from the available related nodes list and then select Next.
      You can add more than one related node.
    8. For each related node, set the following options:
      • Part of processing activity: This option is enabled by default. Keep it selected if this is part of the current processing activity.
      • Description: Enter a description of the relationship for this node.
      • Copy details: If you have added multiple nodes and want to apply the description of one node to all other nodes, select Copy Details on that node.
      • Remove: To remove a node before saving, select the remove icon next to that node.
    9. Select Add.

    Result

    The new node appears in the Hierarchy tab list. When you select the View lineage map, the node appears in the graphical view. If the related node is itself a processing activity with existing relationships, those connections also appear in the map.