Abstract: Enforcing a legal hold procedure in a system by scanning multiple data sources to identify data objects for processing as a unitary group with respect to common access and control processes of the legal hold to preserve the data for a defined period of time and protected against modification and unauthorized access. The metadata is stored in a static dataset that defines a single data access unit for the referenced data. A user query regarding a referenced data object is processed, and accesses the data through the dataset as a single unit based on data content rather than data location in a file directory of the system. The data may be sensitive data and the legal hold procedure may be implemented as court rules in accordance with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Abstract: Classifying data objects for the content-based protection and process control in a system and modifying a classification based on evolving data. Data objects stored in the system are scanned to identify data objects to be processed similarly with respect to data protection or access control. A dataset comprising metadata for corresponding data objects is generated, and a classifier labels the dataset with a classifier tag to indicate an ownership group. Data objects that belong to the dataset are similarly tagged with the classifier so that the same operations are performed on this data regardless of location. A monitor tracks changes in the dataset based system evolution to determine a change in the classifier for the dataset based on the change. A classifier behavior tag is appended to the dataset specify an operation of the classifier to accommodate the tracked change.