Implications of Privacy Levels with only single Datasource

[richard234]

I am using a single datasource (an SQL server) from which I import multiple tables via DirectQuery. I would like to be able to run a Python script to join and analyse multiple tables, but I am running into issues regarding the Privacy levels and Firewall errors. My database does contain sensitive information that needs to be secured at the highest level.

The resources I have read on privacy levels says that they exist to prevent data leakage from one data source to another. My question is - what are the implications of making privacy levels "public" or even completely ignoring them in my case, where I only have a single datasource? Can an unauthorised person access it if I make my datasource public in Power BI?

Thank you, and let me know if I can provide more information.

[v-zhangti · Accepted solution]

Hi, @richard234 

Configure a privacy level:

Private data source: A Private data source contains sensitive or confidential information, and the visibility of the data source may be restricted to authorized users. Data from a Private data source will not be folded to other sources (not even to other Private sources).

Example Data Sources: Facebook data, a text file containing stock awards, or a workbook containing employee review information.

Organizational data source: An Organizational data source limits the visibility of a data source to a trusted group of people. Data from an Organizational data source will not be folded to Public data sources, but may be folded to other Organizational data sources, as well as to Private data sources.

Example Data Sources:A Microsoft Word document on an intranet SharePoint site with permissions enabled for a trusted group.

Public data source: A Public data source gives everyone visibility to the data contained in the data source. Only files, internet data sources, or workbook data can be marked Public. Data from a Public data source may be freely folded to other sources.

Example Data Sources: Free data from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, data from a Wikipedia page, or a local file containing data copied from a public web page.

You should configure a data source containing highly sensitive or confidential data as Private.

This is the relevant document, hope to help you:

https://docs.microsoft.com/power-bi/admin/desktop-privacy-levels 

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _Charlotte

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[lbendlin]

In your scenario you can ignore the privacy settings. They protect against information cross bleed between your data sources. They have nothing to do with the protection from outside attacks - that's what the Azure Service takes care of.