Skip to main content

Power BI

Needs Votes

Add a default role for row level security

Vote (391) Share
Jon Jowsey's profile image

Jon Jowsey on 17 Aug 2016 07:46:21

I want to be able to assign all users (including new ones) to a default role in RLS. Currently I have to assign each user to the role manually, and update the roles manually when users change.

This limits the ability to use RLS with a larger user base.

Comments (32)
Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Matthias Mann on 26 Nov 2021 09:16:08

RE: Add a default role for row level security

As it is now RLS is basically useless for managing larger numbers of report consumers. Manually adding every role is simply unreasonable and hard to manage in the long run.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

on 05 Nov 2021 23:06:07

RE: Add a default role for row level security

This role would be applied if none of the other roles were applied. This would have two advantages.

1. If an email address or security group was missing from a role, then the default (potentially more restrictive) role would be applied, rather than displaying all data. (Which strikes me as a big security flaw in the current implementation).

2. Would allow row level security to be applied using functions like UserPrincipalName() without having to name everyone with access to the report in a role.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Trinka G on 05 Nov 2021 17:15:17

RE: Add a default role for row level security

This is a duplicate of "add a default role for row level security"
https://ideas.powerbi.com/ideas/idea/?ideaid=27a0e121-51c0-4909-94c2-a1dc472a4a49

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Terry Hull on 11 Aug 2021 07:43:24

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Cannot believe there still isnt a solution for this , adding individuals to roles each time is simply to big an issue.
Obviously there is a work around otherwise Microsoft themselves would be asking for it given the number of employee they have.
Simple allow a default role to be assigned to a role in the service, that every users is assigned to without needing anyone to enter this, they can then just maintain the sub-sets ie managers who get additional access.  Surely not a big job to do.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Michal Gasparovic on 11 May 2021 23:38:34

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Unbelievable that PowerBI still doesn't have this issue covered... Just give us default READER role that anyone will be granted straightaway so we can prevent the secure data to be seen !

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

David Tomlinson on 19 Mar 2021 02:56:26

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Please get on this soon. My company is extremely large and manually adding users every time a report is shared is extremely cumbersome in a software that is meant to help automate processes. It should be an option to toggle a default role and assign default permissions every time a new user is granted access so other users can share reports freely while still maintaining security for the more sensitive information. I currently have to disable sharing because otherwise when a report is shared they won't see anything if not assigned to a role and will assume powerbi isn't working. Most don't know they need to ask to also be added to a role.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Andrew Tuplin on 05 Jan 2021 20:23:45

RE: Add a default role for row level security

This is a badly needed feature for data security.

RLS exists to protect data. Having no default role that can be applied when a user is not a member of assigned groups means all of your data protection is lost in the event that users are not correctly managed outside of Power BI (and with very large enterprises, this can be very challenging to ensure).

I think in most cases, users would want the default to be access to nothing, but as it stands, the default gives users access to everything (because RLS is only applied for users belonging to specified groups).

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Jay Killeen on 30 Jul 2020 06:02:00

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Are we still talking about this? Or is there some new way to do this since my last comment over 2 years ago?

I still think it is funny that, there is all these 'data security' features that only work if you assign a role to someone. If someone doesn't have a role... all cool? Just give them all the data.

Go to all the effort to maintain hundreds of users, then that 1 that gets missed walks away with the entire dataset. Sweet.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

e on 06 Jul 2020 00:17:00

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Hi, its possible to do this! Just create a role that has full view, and in the service environment security settings add "Everyone" to the role.

Jon Jowsey's profile image Profile Picture

Power BI User on 06 Jul 2020 00:15:20

RE: Add a default role for row level security

Yes! I agree. This feature is very important. Makes it easier for dynamic role management. I have created a dynamic relationship manager role in my Power BI report but it appears I have to manually add the users to the RM role before it allows them access.

Merged Idea (1)