Data protection

[kostik21315]

Hi, I am new in power bi and have a question on data protection. As a state administation office, we have sensitive data, we want to publish on web, but we want to be sure, there is no way how can public access original data file. Is it safe to publish it? Is there any chance, somebody can access original excel data file?

[andrewsommer]

I'm in a similar security situation to you and we have use cases that require us to publish to the web.  We deidentify all data in the semantic model that supports the published report so that no PII is exposed. 

Even if your report is just aggregated data if you have the detail or PII in the dataset behind it that data is exposed when you publish to the web. 

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @kostik21315 ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Fabric Community.

No, publishing to web in Power BI is not safe for sensitive data because it makes your report accessible to anyone with the link, and there is a chance that users can extract data from the report. If you're handling sensitive government data, it's highly recommended to never use the "Publish to Web" feature.

Instead, you should share your report using Power BI Service or Microsoft Fabric Workspaces, where access is restricted to specific authorized users only. Use Row-Level Security (RLS) to limit what data users can see, and enable Sensitivity Labels to classify and encrypt the data.

For more information, refer to the official Microsoft documentation on data protection in Power BI:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-security-data-protection-overview

I hope my suggestions give you good ideas, if you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out.

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

Thank you. 

[kostik21315]

Thank you for your reply. I mean i do not want to publish original data, just summary report with aggregated data in graphs. When publishing on web, there is no option to export original data. However you suggest it is not safe anyway right? How can you get to original data, if you see on web just graphs based on aggregated data filters? We want to publish graphs, but want to be sure, nobody can access original individual data from excel

[v-tsaipranay]

Hi @kostik21315 

Thankyou for your followup question. Great point! As @andrewsommer  mentioned, removing sensitive details from your data before publishing is a good way to reduce risk. However, even if you're only sharing summary graphs, "Publish to Web" is still not completely safe for sensitive information. Skilled users can find ways to extract hidden data using browser tools or other methods, especially if the original dataset includes detailed records.

To keep your data fully secure, it's best to use Power BI Service or Microsoft Fabric Workspaces, where you can control who has access. You can also add extra protection with Row-Level Security (RLS), sensitivity labels, and encryption. If you must share reports publicly, make sure all sensitive details are completely removed before publishing. But for government or confidential data, the safest option is to avoid "Publish to Web" altogether and use secure sharing instead.

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

Thank you. 

[v-tsaipranay · Accepted solution]

Hi @kostik21315 ,

I wanted to check if you had the opportunity to review the information provided. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions. If my response has addressed your query, please accept it as a solution and give a 'Kudos' so other members can easily find it.

Thank you.