Freshness is part of quality.

Connect timing to use

I would define freshness from the decision backward. A planning report might tolerate a day of delay. An operational queue may need a much shorter window. The same dataset can serve both, but the expectations should be visible to the people relying on it.

A timestamp alone does not explain whether information is current enough. I want to distinguish when the source changed, when processing completed, and what period the result covers. When the expected window is missed, the interface should make that state clear so someone can choose how to proceed.