A method, system, and machine-readable medium for controlling access to data of a tape data storage medium are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a method is provided which comprises conveying data access control metadata from a tape cartridge comprising a tape data storage medium to a host, receiving decrypted metadata from the host, comparing a checksum value determined utilizing the decrypted metadata with checksum data stored within the tape cartridge; and processing a request to access the tape data storage medium received from the host based upon a comparison of the checksum value and checksum data. In the described method embodiment, the data access control metadata comprises encrypted metadata corresponding to a data storage parameter, where data is stored within the tape data storage medium utilizing the data storage parameter and the decrypted metadata is generated by the host utilizing the encrypted metadata.