Forum Discussion

maronis's avatar
maronis
Helper I
9 years ago
Solved

Security of hidden columns

Hello, I'm creating a report that includes data from a survey of employee opinions. I want to provide department heads with a summary of the survey results, but ensure that the data stays anonymous. ...
Need Help
  • GilbertQ's avatar
    GilbertQ
    9 years ago

    Hi maronis I have had a look and from my personal testing if the column is hidden in the Power BI Desktop file, there is no way to see those columns unless you have the ability to download the PBIX file.

     

    So if the users have read-only access they will never see the hidden columns.

     

    I tested it with the following and I could not see a column I know that I had hidden in a table.

    • Edit Report in Power BI Service
    • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service
    • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service using Power BI Desktop
    • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service, using the Analyze in Excel 

    I cannot think of any other scenario's where a user would be able to see the columns, so if anyone else thinks I have left something out please let me know.

maronis's avatar
maronis
Helper I
9 years ago

OK, so I'm looking at the dataset right now and even for my own file, I can't see any of the hidden columns (I should note they were hidden in Desktop before the data model was published to Service) and can't see a way to unhide them.  If I hide the columns in Desktop and then publish to Service, are the hidden columns then secure?

GilbertQ's avatar
GilbertQ
Super User
9 years ago

Hi maronis I have had a look and from my personal testing if the column is hidden in the Power BI Desktop file, there is no way to see those columns unless you have the ability to download the PBIX file.

 

So if the users have read-only access they will never see the hidden columns.

 

I tested it with the following and I could not see a column I know that I had hidden in a table.

  • Edit Report in Power BI Service
  • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service
  • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service using Power BI Desktop
  • Connect to the Dataset in the Power BI Service, using the Analyze in Excel 

I cannot think of any other scenario's where a user would be able to see the columns, so if anyone else thinks I have left something out please let me know.

  • maronis's avatar
    maronis
    Helper I
    9 years ago

    GilbertQ Thanks so much for doing that testing! That very much aligns with what I've found when I was doing my own testing.

     

    One follow-up question that I haven't been able to find an answer to elsewhere - who exactly is able to download the PBIX file? Are there any circumstances under which someone who is not an owner of the Workgroup would be able to download a PBIX file?

     

    Thanks again!

    • v-ljerr-msft's avatar
      v-ljerr-msft
      Microsoft Employee
      9 years ago

      Hi maronis,

      One follow-up question that I haven't been able to find an answer to elsewhere - who exactly is able to download the PBIX file? Are there any circumstances under which someone who is not an owner of the Workgroup would be able to download a PBIX file?

      Members who have edit access to the report in the Workgroup can download the .pbix file from Power BI service.

       

      In addition, if your administrator has turned off the ability to export data, this feature will not be visible in the Power BI service. :smileyhappy:

       

      Regards

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    Not applicable
    8 years ago

    Q&A - They do appear