A data control engine is an external system that uses metadata and relationships in a graph to enforce enterprise policies, manage governance, and control access across applications and systems. It ensures that rules, trust signals, and usage restrictions travel with the data, allowing operationalized graph data to be used securely and consistently in analytics, AI, and workflows.

Why it matters: Ensuring policies and governance travel with the data prevents misuse, reduces compliance risk, and allows secure, scalable data operations.