A system and method of identifying a data owner examining a plurality of criterion including access type, number of accesses at a given time and over the period of time selected, recentness of access, and permission levels of users. The method of file owner identification comprises collecting a plurality of samples including usage of a file by a plurality of users. A plurality of factors is calculated based on said plurality of users, wherein a respective factor is calculated for each of said plurality of users, wherein each factor is based on a plurality of use elements. Based on said plurality of factors, a file owner is determined of said file from among said plurality of users. The file owner may be communicated and/or displayed e.g., in a graph.