Which aspect is NOT part of SSL's role in data protection?

The correct answer highlights that access control to applications is not a part of SSL's role in data protection. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, primarily focuses on securing data during transmission over the internet. Its main functions are to ensure that data is encrypted while in transit, which protects it from eavesdropping and interception. Additionally, SSL provides authentication of the server's identity, which helps to establish trust between the client and the server by verifying that the server is indeed the legitimate host it claims to be.

Furthermore, SSL plays a significant role in data integrity verification, ensuring that the data being sent has not been altered during transmission. This means that if there were any tampering or corruption of data in transit, SSL would notice these discrepancies.

While access control is vital for protecting applications and data, it falls outside the scope of SSL's functionalities. Access control is generally concerned with who can access specific systems or data within those systems, often involving user authentication and authorization mechanisms that are handled at different layers of security, separate from the SSL protocol.