diff --git a/src/installer/records.py b/src/installer/records.py
index 487275d7..341b863a 100644
--- a/src/installer/records.py
+++ b/src/installer/records.py
@@ -144,7 +144,11 @@ def __eq__(self, other: object) -> bool:
         )
 
     def validate(self, data: bytes) -> bool:
-        """Validate that ``data`` matches this instance.
+        """
+        .. deprecated:: 0.8.0
+            Use :py:meth:`validate_stream` instead, with ``BytesIO(data)``.
+
+        Validate that ``data`` matches this instance.
 
         :param data: Contents of the file corresponding to this instance.
         :return: whether ``data`` matches hash and size.