{"id":3887,"date":"2026-05-18T11:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tsholo"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:36:26","password":"","slug":"what-is-a-data-custodian","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/helpcenter\/what-is-a-data-custodian\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Data Custodian?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Overview<\/h2>\n<p>A data custodian is an organisation or authority that maintains a record set or source system for a particular type of information. Custodians may include public authorities, regulators, statutory bodies, credit bureaus, education bodies, business registries, professional bodies and authorised third-party data providers.<\/p>\n<h2>Why it matters<\/h2>\n<p>Knowing the custodian matters because the custodian usually determines what can be verified, which fields are available, what consent or purpose is required, how often records are updated and whether a result can be corrected directly or only at the source.<\/p>\n<h2>How to think about it<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The custodian is not always the same as the platform that displays the result.<\/li>\n<li>A verification platform may connect to, request from or process data sourced from a custodian.<\/li>\n<li>Some custodians provide direct public services; others work through authorised channels or verification agencies.<\/li>\n<li>Corrections usually need to happen at the source that owns the record.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Common examples<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Home Affairs for identity and civic-status-related records.<\/li>\n<li>Umalusi for specified school and further education certificates.<\/li>\n<li>CIPC for company-registration information.<\/li>\n<li>Credit bureaus for consumer credit information.<\/li>\n<li>SAPS-related processes for police clearance and criminal record-related procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Responsible use reminders<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Always distinguish source ownership from platform delivery.<\/li>\n<li>Check whether the requester has lawful authority to use the source.<\/li>\n<li>Do not promise correction of a record that only the custodian can amend.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Public knowledge note:<\/strong> This article is intended as general education for verification, compliance, fraud prevention and responsible data-use discussions. It is not legal advice and should not replace your organisation&#8217;s own compliance review, regulator guidance, or contractual obligations.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview A data custodian is an organisation or authority that maintains a record set or source system for a particular type of information. Custodians may include public authorities, regulators, statutory bodies, credit bureaus, education bodies, business registries, professional bodies and authorised third-party data providers. Why it matters Knowing the custodian matters because the custodian usually determines what can be verified, which fields are available, what consent or purpose is required, how often records are updated and whether a result can be corrected directly or only at the source. How to think about it The custodian is not always the same as the platform that displays the result. A verification platform may connect to, request from or process data sourced from a custodian. Some custodians provide direct public services; others work through authorised channels or verification agencies. Corrections usually need to happen at the source that owns the record. Common examples Home Affairs for identity and civic-status-related records. Umalusi for specified school and further education certificates. CIPC for company-registration information. Credit bureaus for consumer credit information. SAPS-related processes for police clearance and criminal record-related procedures. Responsible use reminders Always distinguish source ownership from platform delivery. Check whether the requester has lawful authority to use the source. Do not promise correction of a record that only the custodian can amend. Public knowledge note: This article is intended as general education for verification, compliance, fraud prevention and responsible data-use discussions. It is not legal advice and should not replace your organisation&#8217;s own compliance review, regulator guidance, or contractual obligations.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"doc_category":[28],"doc_tag":[],"class_list":["post-3887","docs","type-docs","status-publish","hentry","doc_category-public-data-custodians-official-sources"],"blocksy_meta":[],"year_month":"2026-06","word_count":256,"total_views":0,"reactions":{"happy":0,"normal":0,"sad":0},"author_info":{"name":"KTO Digital Admin","author_nicename":"tsholo","author_url":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/author\/tsholo\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Data Custodians &amp; Official Sources","term_url":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/docs-category\/public-data-custodians-official-sources\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/3887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/docs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/docs\/3887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"doc_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_category?post=3887"},{"taxonomy":"doc_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-cred.co.za\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/doc_tag?post=3887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}