Is it possible to capture user performing Export in a PBI Embedded app-owns-data scenario?

[arpost]

Greetings, all. We are using PBI Embedded in an app-owns-data scenario and want to enable the built-in Export command in Power BI reports. However, the native PBI logs in the Admin/Purview portal only capture the service principal's details NOT the user performing the export, which is a problem from a compliance/security standpoint given that we can't know WHO did the exporting.

Are there any other kind of logs or a method that can be used to log the user performing the export? Based on my research, it doesn't appear that Power BI emits anything related to a user performing an export, which, frankly, is a bit shocking given the fact that this is a fundamental audit data point.

[v-lgarikapat]

There @arpost ,

Thanks for reaching out to the Microsoft fabric community forum.

Could you please try the workaround below

1.Track user actions in your app: Log the user ID, report ID, and export action when the user clicks the export button.

2 .Intercept export triggers: Use the Power BI JavaScript API to detect when the export command is invoked and log it alongside your app’s user context.

3Use service principal profiles.: If you're managing multiple tenants, isolating workspaces via service principal profiles can help you correlate exports to specific tenants, though not individual users.

Understanding the different embedding solutions in Power BI embedded analytics | Microsoft Learn

Embed content in your Power BI embedded analytics application - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Solved: Apps Own Data Embedded solution - URL Logs user ou... - Microsoft Fabric Community

Solved: Power BI Embed Options - App Owns Data, User Owns ... - Microsoft Fabric Community

We truly appreciate your continued engagement and thank you for being an active and valued member of the community.

If you're still experiencing any challenges, please don’t hesitate to reach out we’d be more than happy to assist you further.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Lakshmi

[arpost]

Thank you for your reply, @v-lgarikapat. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a built-in method for capturing when a user does an Export (MS doc on Events). Other events are trackable (e.g., Data selected), but exports don't seem to be trackable app-side as there isn't an event that the Export button "emits" when clicked.

The only solution of which I've heard for that would be custom code rather than an OTB solution. The lack of this poses compliance issues as noted above when working in App Owns Data situations and also means our org will have to pay developers to create custom exporting, which adds cost for PBI Embedded implementation, code maintenance, and new potential security risks if the devs don't properly secure the export data.

It'd be SUPER helpful if Microsoft baked all of this in to the PBI Embedded experience for both App-Owns-Data and User-Owns-Data. I created a couple ideas related to this for others to upvote; I'd love both of them, but #1 would provide an MVP solution that would at least let us get at export activities:

1. Add Export Triggered Event Handler for Power BI Em... - Microsoft Fabric Community
2. Include User Identity in Power BI Embedded Logs (E... - Microsoft Fabric Community

[v-lgarikapat]

Hi @arpost ,

Thanks for raising this in the ideas forum really appreciate you taking the time to share it

Best Regards,

Lakshmi.

[v-lgarikapat]

Hi @arpost ,

I wanted to follow up and confirm whether you’ve had the opportunity to review the information we provided. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please don't hesitate to reach out.

If you are still encountering any challenges, we would be happy to assist you further.

Best Regards,

Lakshmi

[v-lgarikapat]

Hi @arpost ,

I wanted to follow up and confirm whether you’ve had the opportunity to review the information we provided. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please don't hesitate to reach out.

If you are still encountering any challenges, we would be happy to assist you further.

Best Regards,

Lakshmi

[v-lgarikapat]

Hi @arpost ,

We haven’t heard back from you regarding our last response, so I just wanted to check in to see if you were able to resolve the issue. If you have any further questions or need assistance, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Lakshmi