Having a large amount of gold sitting around is also a big liability too, so the analogy works in more than one way.
It creates a liability, in the sense of associated risks of holding a large liquid portable store of wealth. You might find the storage location burgled, yourself kidnapped, associates (family, household or business help, etc.) betraying you, etc. The overall consequence of those risks is not necessarily the same as the value of the asset, and could well greatly exceed it.
Let's be clear. Something can both be an asset AND a liability. These are not mutually exclusive.
That's precisely my argument, as I've expanded elsehwere in this thread.
What (gold|data) (is|are) an (asset|liability) is not, however, is offsetting assets/liabilities in the double-entry bookkeeping sense, as some here seem to think / be arguing (especially: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28268433 ... my correction follows).
Your usage is that gold possession becomes part of ones threat model, and is thus a liability. That's an actuarial, not an accounting, concept.
Double-entry bookkeeping records transactions as debits and credits to different entities.
"Data are a liability* is a recognition that whilst there may be a positive value to data, there is also a probabalistic negative value, especially in the event of unauthorised access or disclosure. That's not a double-entry value, where debits equal credits, it's an independent value, independent of the asset value, dependent on the nature of the data, the type of disclosure, the subject of the data, and the identity of the actor(s) who gain access to the information.
The role is the same as that of any other business liability risk. And again, is independent of the asset value.
As with other liabilities, the actual extent and probability of the liability-based cost is often unclear, and may change with time, particularly as the environment changes.
In banking or brokerages, loans and credit extended are assets as they're value owed to the bank by others. Deposits, held certificates (e.g., stocks), or stored valuables (gold in a safety deposit box) are liabilities because others can make claims on them.
Checking accounts are literally "demand deposits" in the sense that the funds are demandable at any time by the accountholder. Many savings accounts actually have limits on the amount or rate of withdrawal. These are typically large and generous, but they may exist.