Databricks vs Snowflake for security

Summary

• Databricks and Snowflake both document access control, row and column protection, encryption, authentication, audit logging and compliance programs, and on both platforms some controls depend on the edition or pricing tier.
• Databricks governs data and AI assets through Unity Catalog privileges and attribute-based access control (ABAC) policies built on governed tags.
• Snowflake combines discretionary, role-based and user-based access control, and documents ABAC through tag-based policies: tag-based masking policies are generally available and tag-based row access policies are in Public Preview.
• For audit logs, Databricks offers the system.access.audit system table (Public Preview) and Snowflake offers the ACCESS_HISTORY, LOGIN_HISTORY and QUERY_HISTORY views.
• Processing HIPAA data requires the compliance security profile and a business associate agreement (BAA) on Databricks, and Business Critical Edition or higher plus a BAA on Snowflake.

How do Databricks and Snowflake compare for security?

Both platforms cover the same layers: access control, row and column protection, encryption, authentication, network access, audit logging and compliance. They differ in how the controls are exposed and in which edition or tier includes each one. Databricks centers governance on Unity Catalog, which manages permissions through privileges and attribute-based policies. Snowflake centers it on roles and privileges and adds tag-based policies. Several controls on each platform sit behind a higher tier, so check what your plan includes before comparing features.

How do the security features compare?

Area	Databricks	Snowflake
Access control	Unity Catalog grants permissions on securable objects to users, service principals and groups, using privileges and attribute-based policies	DAC, RBAC and UBAC combined; in RBAC, privileges go to roles and roles go to users
Attribute-based policies	ABAC evaluates governed tags in row filter, column mask and GRANT policies; DENY policies are Beta	Tag-based policies apply when a tag is assigned; masking is generally available, row access is Public Preview
Row filtering	Row filters are SQL UDFs set per table, or use ABAC policies	Row access policies need Enterprise Edition or higher
Column masking	Column masks are SQL UDFs set per column, or use ABAC policies	Dynamic Data Masking with masking policies needs Enterprise Edition or higher
Encryption at rest and keys	Managed services data in the control plane is encrypted at rest; customer-managed keys need the Enterprise tier on AWS	All customer data is encrypted by default; customer-managed keys through Tri-Secret Secure need Business Critical Edition or higher
Encryption in transit	Enabled by default in the managed security configuration; traffic between cluster worker nodes is not encrypted by default	Communication between clients and the server is protected through TLS
Authentication	SSO with SAML 2.0 or OpenID Connect; MFA through your identity provider, or Databricks MFA when SSO is off	Federated authentication with SAML 2.0 or OIDC; MFA with a passkey, authenticator app or Duo
Network access	AWS PrivateLink, IP access lists and serverless egress control	Network policies in all editions; private connectivity needs Business Critical Edition or higher
Audit logging	system.access.audit system table (Public Preview)	ACCESS_HISTORY (Enterprise Edition or higher), LOGIN_HISTORY and QUERY_HISTORY views

How does Databricks approach security?

Databricks builds access control, lineage and auditing into Unity Catalog, which it describes as the unified governance layer for data and AI. Unity Catalog enforces access control when you query a table or call a model. For consistent row filtering and column masking across many tables, Databricks recommends ABAC policies, which apply automatically based on governed tags. Table-level row filters and column masks remain available for single tables.
For regulated workloads, Databricks offers the compliance security profile, which adds a hardened compute image, enhanced security monitoring and enforced instance types. Databricks documents that enabling it is required to process data regulated under standards such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, FedRAMP High, FedRAMP Moderate and HITRUST. Your account team can provide the Databricks SOC 2 Type II report.

FAQs

Does Snowflake support attribute-based access control?

Yes. Snowflake documents ABAC using tag-based policies: you set a policy on a tag, and the policy applies automatically to any database, schema, table or column that carries the tag. Tag-based masking policies are generally available. Tag-based aggregation, row access, projection and join policies are in Public Preview for Enterprise Edition or higher.

What does each platform require for HIPAA workloads?

On Databricks, HIPAA controls require the compliance security profile, and you need an active BAA before processing PHI. On Snowflake, PHI support requires Business Critical Edition or higher, and a signed BAA must be in place before PHI is stored.

Which compliance programs does each vendor list?

Snowflake's regulatory compliance page lists programs including SOC 2 Type II, ISO-27001, HITRUST CSF, PCI DSS and FedRAMP (Moderate and High). Its editions page ties public sector workloads such as FedRAMP and ITAR to Business Critical Edition or higher. Databricks lists C5, CCCS Medium, DoD IL5, FedRAMP High, FedRAMP Moderate, HIPAA, HITRUST, IRAP, ISMAP, K-FSI, PCI-DSS, TISAX and UK Cyber Essentials Plus under its compliance security profile, and documents FedRAMP Moderate authorization for specific AWS commercial regions.

Can I manage my own encryption keys on each platform?

Yes on both, with the tier requirements shown in the table. Databricks customer-managed keys cover managed services data and workspace storage. Snowflake's Tri-Secret Secure combines a Snowflake-maintained key with a customer-managed key into a composite master key, using AWS KMS, Google Cloud KMS or Azure Key Vault.