Power BI Data Security: How to Protect Your Reports

Power BI brings financial, sales and operational data together in reports that are easy to explore. When you share a report, however, the question goes beyond who can open it. You also need to decide what each person can see, change or export.

Power BI data security involves several layers: data sources, user accounts, workspaces, semantic models and sharing settings. Here is how to manage them together.

1. Secure your data sources

Protection starts before you create a report. Review who can access the databases, files and applications feeding Power BI, as well as the credentials used to connect to them.

Grant only the access needed, protect connection accounts and review permissions when employees change roles or leave the organization. If your data is stored on a local server, an on-premises data gateway can connect it to the Power BI service. Access to the gateway and its data sources also needs to be managed carefully.

2. Protect accounts with multifactor authentication

Someone who gains access to an employee’s account may be able to view the reports available to that employee. Multifactor authentication (MFA), configured through your organization’s Microsoft identity environment, adds protection beyond a password.

MFA should be supported by account management practices for new hires, role changes and departures. It protects access to an account, but it does not fix overly broad report permissions.

3. Assign the right workspace roles

Power BI has four main workspace roles: Admin, Member, Contributor and Viewer. They provide different levels of control over content.

If someone only needs to read a report, give them an appropriate viewing role instead of permission to edit it. Where practical, manage access through groups and review those groups regularly.

One distinction is especially important: row-level security does not apply to workspace Admins, Members or Contributors. Giving one of these roles to a person who should see only part of the data can therefore undermine the intended RLS restrictions.

4. Restrict visible data with row-level security

Row-level security (RLS) filters the rows of data a user can access in a semantic model.

For example, a manager in Québec City could see sales for their region while a Montréal manager sees Montréal sales. Both use the same report, but they see different records.

RLS rules must be defined in the model, assigned to the appropriate users and tested using the access those users will actually have. If sensitive columns must also be hidden, assess the appropriate controls separately: filtering rows alone does not protect every field.

5. Control sharing and exports

Even a well-configured report can expose information if it is shared too broadly. Check who can use each sharing link, what permissions come with it and whether external sharing is allowed.

Pay attention to exports to Excel, PDF and PowerPoint as well. Depending on your settings and permissions, data can leave the report environment. Microsoft provides administrative controls for sharing and exporting, along with sensitivity labels that can help protect certain content and supported exports.

Do not confuse authenticated sharing with Publish to web. That feature makes a report publicly accessible on the internet and is unsuitable for internal or confidential information.

To review your distribution options, read our article on sharing Power BI reports and dashboards.

6. Monitor activity and review access

Power BI security requires ongoing attention. Activity logs can help authorized teams review certain actions in the Power BI environment.

Make time to review:

• The users and groups with workspace access;

• Permissions granted to external users;

• Sharing and export settings;

• RLS assignments and test results;

• Access that is no longer needed after a role change.

These reviews form part of broader data governance, which defines responsibilities and rules for protecting information.

7. Train users on everyday risks

Users need to understand the difference between viewing, sharing and exporting a report. Brief, practical training can show them how to check recipients before sharing, recognize sensitive information and report access that appears inappropriate.

Training is particularly valuable when performance dashboards are rolled out across teams and bring information from several sources into one place.

Give people the information they need, securely

The right setup allows people to access the information they need for their work while restricting sensitive data. Start by reviewing workspace roles, testing RLS and checking sharing and export settings. Repeat those reviews as your reports and teams change.

Mallette’s Power BI specialists can help you structure reports, define access and establish controls suited to your organization.