What Snowflake's secure data sharing actually shares, and how

Snowflake's data sharing lets providers share live, read-only data with consumers without copying or moving it, using Snowflake's unique architecture that separates storage from compute. Sharing is implemented through Secure Shares, Direct Shares, and the Snowflake Marketplace, all built on metadata pointers rather than data duplication. Consumers query shared data in real time, and providers retain full control over what is shared and with whom.

1 · Learn the must-know

• 1Data sharing works only within the same cloud provider and region unless Auto-Fulfillment (via Snowflake's replication) is used to share cross-region or cross-cloud.
• 2A Share is a named Snowflake object that encapsulates privileges granting access to specific databases, schemas, tables, secure views, or secure UDFs—no actual data is copied.
• 3Consumers can be existing Snowflake accounts (Direct Share) or non-Snowflake users via Reader Accounts, which the provider creates and manages (including compute costs) for consumers without their own Snowflake account.
• 4The Snowflake Marketplace enables providers to publish Listings (free or paid) for broader discovery and consumption, supporting both standard and personalized (private) listings.
• 5Shared data is always read-only for consumers, consumes no storage on the consumer side, and reflects real-time updates as the provider's underlying data changes.
• 6Secure views/UDFs are recommended for sharing to protect underlying table structure and sensitive logic, and providers can revoke a share at any time to instantly cut off consumer access.

2 · Check your understanding