The ComplianceClock is a secure time base that prevents compliant data from being tampered with. The ComplianceClock makes it impossible to change the system clock to prematurely alter or remove the compliant data.
You can view the ComplianceClock by using the date -c command, and you can initialize it (once only) by using the date -c initialize command.
The ComplianceClock is stored on all the volumes of a storage system on which the ComplianceClock is initialized. There is also a central Data ONTAP ComplianceClock value, which is the primary reference point. Data ONTAP periodically updates ComplianceClock. The ComplianceClock value is also placed in qtrees that are replicated to provide synchronization between the source and destination storage systems.
Before Data ONTAP 7.1, the ComplianceClock drifted toward the system clock at a rate of one day per year. In Data ONTAP 7.1 and later, the drift rate is one week per year. However, there is no way to alter the ComplianceClock manually.