Which of the following helps to apply the proper security controls to information?

Data classification is the process of organizing data into categories such as public, internal, confidential, or top secret based on its sensitivity and value. Once classified, security teams can apply the correct controls - such as encryption, access restrictions, or handling labels - that are proportionate to the risk associated with each data category.

Deduplication removes redundant copies of data to save storage space but does not determine or assign security controls based on data sensitivity.

A clean desk policy is a physical security control that prevents unauthorized viewing of unattended documents but does not classify or categorize data.

Encryption is a security control applied to protect data, but it is a result of classification decisions rather than the process that determines which controls should be used.