What is the main reason for restricting access to data?

The primary reason for restricting access to data revolves around maintaining its integrity and validity, especially when changes are being made. When access to data is restricted, it helps ensure that only authorized users can modify or interact with the data, thereby minimizing the risk of accidental or malicious alterations that could corrupt the data. By controlling who has the ability to change the data, the system can better prevent errors and maintain the quality and accuracy of the information being stored and processed.

In database systems, this concept is crucial as it safeguards against inconsistencies that could arise from multiple users modifying the same data simultaneously. Proper access controls help ensure that any changes made are valid and meet the required standards, further contributing to the reliability of the database.

While ensuring data is always available, reducing storage costs, and facilitating data sharing are important considerations in data management, they are not the primary reasons for restricting access. Availability focuses on user access rather than the quality of data, cost efficiency relates to resource management, and sharing pertains more to collaboration than to the integrity of the data being managed.