Unlocking the Power of Permissions: Managing Dashboard Access for Enhanced Security
Dashboards simplify complex data for easy understanding of trends and patterns. Bold BI offers dashboard integration with your apps and business intelligence tools for enhanced analytics. It has features like preconfigured data connectors and captivating visualization options. This blog explains managing dashboard permissions among users and groups in the embedded version of Bold BI.
What is permissions management?
Permissions management refers to the process of controlling access rights for users or groups within a software system. It ensures that individuals can only access information and perform actions for which they are authorized.
Importance of managing dashboard access
While working with multiple users, controlling permissions is key for:
- Enhanced security: Effectively managing dashboard access permissions safeguards sensitive business information. It prevents unauthorized access, data breaches, and potential misuse of critical information.
- Increased accountability: Clear access permissions enable organizations to pinpoint and hold employees accountable for improper use of data. The awareness of this encourages adherence to company policies and more responsible handling of data.
- Customized user experience: Tailoring dashboard access permissions for roles and individuals ensures employees see only information relevant to their jobs, enhancing ease of navigation and reducing confusion.
- Regulatory compliance and optimized resource allocation: Dashboard access permissions support regulatory compliance and data protection while optimizing resource allocation, demonstrating data privacy commitment, and minimizing performance issues.
How to enable permissions in a dashboard
Access to a dashboard can be granted to individuals or groups through the following steps.
Entity
Entity is broadly what access is being granted. When one is chosen, you can see the available scopes and access modes. Check here to see the options.
Scope
Scope selection is available for Specific Resourcesand Specific Settings.Here, you narrow down the dashboards, data sources, etc., to which the user or group is being granted access.
Access mode
Access mode lets you determine what actions users can take in a dashboard, such as whether they can just view it or edit and interact with it, too. See this documentation for a list of available modes.
Steps to add permissions:
- Select the entity.
- Select the scope if required.
- Select the access mode.
- Click Add to add the framed permission for the user.
Now let’s see how to enable access for individual users and groups.
User access
You need to follow these steps:
- Click the kebab menu icon in the user management grid and select Manage Permissions from the context menu.
2. Click the user’s name on the user listing page to navigate to the user profile page, then click Manage Permissions on the user profile page.
In the manage permissions grid, you can find the permissions assigned directly to the user and the permissions inherited from the groups they are in.
3. Click Add Permission to add permissions for the user.
Group access
You need to follow these steps:
- Click the kebab menu in the group management grid and select Manage Permissions.
2. Click the group’s name on the group listing page to navigate to the group profile page, and then select Manage Permissions from the Manage dropdown.
You can find the permissions assigned directly to the group in the Manage Permissions grid.
3. Click Add Permission to add permissions to the group.
Tips for managing permissions
- Determine the roles and permissions needed.
- Create user groups based on roles.
- Assign permissions to user groups based on roles.
- Set up row-level security to control access to individual rows of data based on specific criteria.
- Test and review permissions regularly to ensure that users only have access to the data they need.
- Train managers to know what roles should have access to which data sets and how to set up permissions to help prevent accidental data leaks or unauthorized access.
- Implement single sign-on (SSO).
- Monitor user activity to ensure that permissions are being used appropriately.
- Keep permissions up to date.
Examples
Permission management in an organization is crucial for data security, privacy, and efficient workflow management. It ensures that the right individuals have access to the right information while mitigating risks associated with unauthorized access or data misuse.
Let’s look at use cases of businesses managing access permissions.
User access permission
Human Resources Information System (HRIS)
Enabling permissions in an HRIS allows HR professionals to manage employee data, such as personal information, performance reviews, or salary details. By assigning permissions based on roles, HR can control access to sensitive employee information and maintain data privacy and compliance with data protection regulations.
This lets employees read the data but not alter it.
When you disable permissions, the user will be unable to access the dashboard, as shown.
The highlighted section shows the customization tools that a user can use if they have read and write permission.
Group access permissions
Let’s look at one case of group permissions.
Project management
For project management, enabling permissions allows project managers to monitor the progress of every part of a project or projects, while team members can view and update the tasks relevant to their teams’ work. Permissions ensure that project-related information is accessible to the right individuals.
Group members can only read the information, without making any changes in the following.
When you disable permissions, the group will be unable to access the dashboard at all, as shown.
The highlighted section shows the customization tools that group members can use to read and edit the dashboard if they have read and write access.
I hope this content will enable you to safeguard your sensitive business data while still promoting collaboration among dashboard users. Adopting this framework will foster a secure environment for analyzing data in your organization.
Originally published at https://www.boldbi.com on June 9, 2023.
