Consequences of changing data source settings.

[kaik]

Pretty knew to PowerBI wanting to learn and understand the architecture.

Would like to understand the consequences in term of security and privacy when data source settings are changed and what would happen to the accessibility when the report is shared or published. If a Data source using Azure Data Explorer is set to public setting to use python script for querying after sharing or publishing will the data from kusto be visible to the "general public" or just to those who have the link for access?

In general would like to understand how is the architecture in terms of credentials needed and consequences of changing data source settings, how it affects when the report is shared or pblished, will the data be available to anyone to access if you publish the report having public setting to the kusto? what is the best practice in terms of security and privacy when having to use python script in the report.

Thank you in advance.

[v-shex-msft]

HI @kaik,

#1, I think they at least required the corresponding azure API permission to access these shared contents. I do not so recommend you to direct setting these data source to 'public' mode without any other permissions. Obviously, it will cause the issues of data privacy.

#2, I'm not so sure what type of publishing you mean, can you please explain more about this? If you mean share power bi report with the 'publish to web' feature, your report content should public to the viewers who know the shared link. 

Publish to web from Power BI 

Regards,

XIaoxin Sheng

[kaik]

Yes so what I am most worried about is to know what happens whenever I change my imported datasourse to public and publish it PowerBi services, as I understand when a datasource is set to imported it will be compressed and be part of the pbix file but when its on power bi services what exactly happens to the tables? will the data be accessed only by whom I share the link and the report? How will I enable to make the report work when ever they have the necesary credentials and not mine. I saw on the documentation that ones you share the url anyone can access to the reports data even tho they do not have necesary credentials for the DB.

Thank you again, and it is just a follow up question but my original answer was a bit clarified.

[v-shex-msft]

Hi @kaik,

#1, Power bi service will recognize and analyze these query table backend data connection(M query tables) and create a connection to import data to the power bi service dataset. (AFAIK, power bi service dataset are stored on azure blob data storage, power bi will store the connections setting and you can check them on datasets)

You can take a look at the following link to know more about the operation steps that power bi service processed in the backend.

Power BI Security#power-bi-architecture 

#2, Power bi share features have complete permission manage(dataset -> manage permission) to configuration what type of contents(dashboard, report, dataset) and permissions that the receiver can be accessed(read, edit, reshare), you can refer to below document to know more about them:

Build permission for shared datasets 

'Publish to web' does not work as usual share features, it did not require view was pro license and not include the security setting. All the report pages will be shared as 'public' contents that all of users who know the link can be viewed these report contents. (power bi will create a quick shot that links to your reports so you report data can be view by users, but they not able to view or edit on your datasets) 

Publish to web from Power BI#limitations 

So if your report contents contain sensitive data, this feature should not be a good choice. Perhaps you can take a look at the enhanced version 'power bi embed'.

What is Power BI Embedded? 

Regards,

Xiaoxin Sheng

[amitchandak]

@kaik , very broad question.

Change connection

https://windowsreport.com/change-data-source-power-bi/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8dJ--ktU4c

This link has a few videos that answer a few questions

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/MBAS-Gallery/bd-p/MBAS_Gallery

Guidelines

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/

For Best Practices

https://maqsoftware.com/expertise/powerbi/power-bi-best-practices
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/power-bi-optimization
https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/power-bi-best-practices-part-1/
https://www.knowledgehut.com/blog/business-intelligence-and-visualization/power-bi-best-practices
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/MBAS-Gallery/Microsoft-Power-BI-The-Do-s-and-Don-ts-of-Power-BI-Rel...
https://community.powerbi.com/t5/MBAS-Gallery/Microsoft-Power-BI-My-Power-BI-report-is-slow-What-sho...