Data Provenance & Lineage
Trace AI answers back to source documents for complete audit trails
Example: Tracing a Compliance Answer
When a user asks "What are our GDPR data retention requirements?", we can trace the answer back through the complete data pipeline to verify every source used.
Complete Lineage Flow
1. AI Response Generated
Answer: "Based on GDPR Article 5(1)(e) and your TechCorp Data Retention Policy Section 4, your data retention requirements are: Customer data: 7 years per contract terms..."
2. Vector Search Results (2 sources matched)
Source 1 (Public): ChromaDB:GDPR • chunk_gdpr_art5_retention • 94% relevance
Source 2 (Private): pgvector:TechCorp • chunk_tc_retention_sec4 • 89% relevance
Source 2 (Private): pgvector:TechCorp • chunk_tc_retention_sec4 • 89% relevance
3. Source Document (Private)
File: TechCorp-InfoSec-Policy-2024.pdf
Section: Data Retention Policy → Section 4 (page 12, paragraph 3)
Content: "Customer data retained for 7 years per contract terms, after which secure deletion procedures apply..."
Section: Data Retention Policy → Section 4 (page 12, paragraph 3)
Content: "Customer data retained for 7 years per contract terms, after which secure deletion procedures apply..."
4. Upload Batch
Batch ID: BATCH_342
Uploaded by: sarah.chen@techsecure.io
Processing: 3,850 records → 3,850 chunks → 3,850 vectors
Status: COMPLETED
Uploaded by: sarah.chen@techsecure.io
Processing: 3,850 records → 3,850 chunks → 3,850 vectors
Status: COMPLETED
5. Original Source File
Filename: TechCorp-InfoSec-Policy-2024.pdf
Upload source: Web UI file upload
File hash (SHA-256):
Stored location: s3://arioncomply-uploads/techsecure/2026-02-19/TechCorp-InfoSec-Policy-2024.pdf
Upload source: Web UI file upload
File hash (SHA-256):
a7b3c8d9e2f1...Stored location: s3://arioncomply-uploads/techsecure/2026-02-19/TechCorp-InfoSec-Policy-2024.pdf
Lineage Tracking Benefits
- Complete audit trail for regulatory compliance
- Verify AI answers against source documents
- Track document lifecycle from upload to deletion
- Identify which customer docs informed each answer
- Support data subject access requests (GDPR Art. 15)
Query Interface
Trace by: