diff --git a/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/CompliancePolicy.avsc b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/CompliancePolicy.avsc
index 387fee6526..1c899c9c92 100644
--- a/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/CompliancePolicy.avsc
+++ b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/CompliancePolicy.avsc
@@ -29,13 +29,14 @@
         }
       }
     },
-    { "name" : "retentionWindow",
-      "type" : [
+    {
+      "name": "retentionWindow",
+      "type": [
         "null",
         "long"
       ],
-      "doc" : "How long data is retained in seconds for the case of MANUAL_LIMITED_RETENTION",
-      "default" : null
+      "doc": "How long data is retained in seconds for the case of MANUAL_LIMITED_RETENTION",
+      "default": null
     },
     {
       "name": "compliancePurgeNote",
@@ -66,6 +67,15 @@
       "name": "datasetClassification",
       "type": "DatasetClassification",
       "doc": "dataset level classification: dataset contains such category of data or not, e.g. 'PROFILE_DATA':false"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "containsPersonalData",
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "boolean"
+      ],
+      "doc": "Use this field to specify whether the dataset contains any personal data for schemaless systems like Couchbase, Ambry etc",
+      "default": null
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/MetadataChangeEvent.avsc b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/MetadataChangeEvent.avsc
index d23f73104c..d209a64034 100644
--- a/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/MetadataChangeEvent.avsc
+++ b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/MetadataChangeEvent.avsc
@@ -21,13 +21,18 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "datasetProperty",
-      "type": [ "null", "DatasetProperty" ],
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "DatasetProperty"
+      ],
       "doc": "Basic properties of a dataset, such as Native Type, Case Sensitivity, URI"
     },
     {
       "name": "owners",
       "doc": "A complete list of owners info",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "items": "OwnerInfo",
           "doc": "Ownership information"
@@ -36,12 +41,17 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "partitionSpec",
-      "type": [ "null", "PartitionSpecification" ],
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "PartitionSpecification"
+      ],
       "doc": "Partition specification detail"
     },
     {
       "name": "deploymentInfo",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "items": "DeploymentDetail"
         }
@@ -50,7 +60,9 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "tags",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "items": "string"
         }
@@ -59,12 +71,18 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "schema",
-      "doc": "The schema/structure definition of a dataset. For Key-Value and Document db, a dedicated KeySchema is provided. Schema includes KeySchema, OriginalSchema, FieldSchema, ChangeDataCaptureFields, AuditFields",
-      "type": [ "null", "DatasetSchema" ]
+      "doc": "The schema/structure definition of a dataset. For Key-Value and Document db, a dedicated KeySchema is provided. Schema includes KeySchema, OriginalSchema, FieldSchema, ChangeDataCaptureFields, AuditFields. Set this field to Schemaless explicitly for schemaless systems.",
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "DatasetSchema",
+        "Schemaless"
+      ]
     },
     {
       "name": "constraints",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "doc": "Array of constraints",
           "items": "Constraint"
@@ -73,7 +91,9 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "indices",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "doc": "Array of indices",
           "items": "Index"
@@ -82,7 +102,9 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "capacity",
-      "type": [ "null", {
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        {
           "type": "array",
           "doc": "Array of capacity info",
           "items": "Capacity"
@@ -91,12 +113,18 @@
     },
     {
       "name": "compliancePolicy",
-      "type": [ "null", "CompliancePolicy" ],
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "CompliancePolicy"
+      ],
       "doc": "Human-entered compliance metadata"
     },
     {
       "name": "suggestedCompliancePolicy",
-      "type": [ "null", "SuggestedCompliancePolicy" ],
+      "type": [
+        "null",
+        "SuggestedCompliancePolicy"
+      ],
       "default": null,
       "doc": "Machine-suggested compliance metadata"
     }
diff --git a/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/Schemaless.avsc b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/Schemaless.avsc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c91fd4682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wherehows-data-model/src/main/avro/Schemaless.avsc
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+  "type": "record",
+  "name": "Schemaless",
+  "doc": "Denotes that the dataset contains no explicitly defined schema, e.g. Couchbase",
+  "namespace": "com.linkedin.events.metadata",
+  "fields": [
+  ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/wherehows-kafka/src/main/java/wherehows/processors/MetadataChangeProcessor.java b/wherehows-kafka/src/main/java/wherehows/processors/MetadataChangeProcessor.java
index 36a4aa62b9..0e0f5342c9 100644
--- a/wherehows-kafka/src/main/java/wherehows/processors/MetadataChangeProcessor.java
+++ b/wherehows-kafka/src/main/java/wherehows/processors/MetadataChangeProcessor.java
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ import com.linkedin.events.KafkaAuditHeader;
 import com.linkedin.events.metadata.ChangeAuditStamp;
 import com.linkedin.events.metadata.ChangeType;
 import com.linkedin.events.metadata.DatasetIdentifier;
+import com.linkedin.events.metadata.DatasetSchema;
 import com.linkedin.events.metadata.FailedMetadataChangeEvent;
 import com.linkedin.events.metadata.MetadataChangeEvent;
+import com.linkedin.events.metadata.Schemaless;
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
 import org.apache.avro.generic.IndexedRecord;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.exception.ExceptionUtils;
@@ -94,15 +96,18 @@ public class MetadataChangeProcessor extends KafkaMessageProcessor {
       throw new Exception("Dataset name too long: " + identifier);
     }
 
+    final DatasetSchema dsSchema =
+        (event.schema == null || event.schema instanceof Schemaless) ? null : (DatasetSchema) event.schema;
+    // TODO: handle Schemaless separately
+
     // create or update dataset
-    DictDataset ds =
-        _dictDatasetDao.insertUpdateDataset(identifier, changeAuditStamp, event.datasetProperty, event.schema,
-            event.deploymentInfo, toStringList(event.tags), event.capacity, event.partitionSpec);
+    DictDataset ds = _dictDatasetDao.insertUpdateDataset(identifier, changeAuditStamp, event.datasetProperty, dsSchema,
+        event.deploymentInfo, toStringList(event.tags), event.capacity, event.partitionSpec);
 
     // if schema is not null, insert or update schema
-    if (event.schema != null) {
+    if (dsSchema != null) {
       _fieldDetailDao.insertUpdateDatasetFields(identifier, ds.getId(), event.datasetProperty, changeAuditStamp,
-          event.schema);
+          dsSchema);
     }
 
     // if owners are not null, insert or update owner