If change tracking has not been enabled on a source table, who can create the initial stream on that table?

• A. Only the table owner (i.e. the role that has the OWNERSHIP privilege on the table) can create the initial stream on the table.
• B. Anyone who has USAGE on the table can create the initial stream.
• C. Only SECURITYADMIN role can create the initial stream.
• D. Any user with CREATE STREAM privilege can create the initial stream.

Answer: (A)

Creating a stream on a table is a metadata operation that attaches change-tracking to that table. If change tracking hasn’t been enabled yet, Snowflake restricts this initial setup to the table’s owner because only the owner has the authority to modify the table’s metadata and define the stream. That ownership privilege is what lets the owner establish how changes will be tracked from the start. Once the initial stream exists, others can use or query it if they have the appropriate privileges, but they cannot create the first stream themselves without owning the table. The other options don’t fit because USAGE on the table does not grant the ability to create new metadata objects, there isn’t a general CREATE STREAM privilege for any user, and SECURITYADMIN isn’t required to perform this table-level metadata setup.