Glossary
Role-based access control
Also called: RBAC, role-based permissions
Role-based access control grants permissions to roles rather than to individuals, and assigns people to roles. In a document system it needs to be finer than read and write, because the distinction between reading a confidential document and keeping a copy of it is often the point.
Role-based access control explained
Why read and write is too coarse
A contractor reviewing a policy needs to read it and should not retain a copy. A billing clerk confirming a procedure took place needs the fact, not the clinical narrative. An auditor needs to see everything and download nothing.
None of those are expressible with two permission levels, which is why a document system needs preview-only as a distinct level from preview-and-download, and why upload-only exists for intake roles that should not be able to browse.
Where models break down
Per-document overrides. Necessary for genuine exceptions and the mechanism by which a permission model quietly unravels. The fix is not to forbid them but to surface them — a shared-access overview listing every active override and share makes them reviewable.
Role proliferation. A new role created for each exception produces dozens of near-identical roles nobody can reason about. Composing roles from permission levels per module scales better than defining new ones.
Leavers. The most common real-world failure. Single sign-on solves it structurally: a directory deactivation removes access without anyone touching the document system.
Access reviews
Whatever the model, someone has to check periodically that the assignments still reflect reality. A review is only feasible if the system can report who has access to what, which is a design requirement rather than a reporting nicety.
FAQ
Role-based access control: common questions
How many roles should we define?
Fewer than you expect — usually between five and fifteen for a mid-sized organisation. If you are creating a role per person or per exception, the model needs composing rather than extending.
Should permissions follow folders or documents?
Folders, with per-document exceptions surfaced rather than hidden. Document-level permissions as the primary model produce an estate nobody can audit.
Related terms
- Access reviewAn access review is a periodic check that the people who have access to something still need it.
- API keyAn API key authenticates a program rather than a person.
- Break-glass accessBreak-glass access is a deliberate, time-boxed grant of permissions a user does not normally hold, for genuine emergencies.
- Data residencyData residency is the commitment that data is stored and processed within a specified country or region.
- Encryption at restEncryption at rest protects stored data by encrypting it on disk, so that physical access to the storage medium does not yield readable content.
- Permission inheritancePermission inheritance means a document takes its access rights from the folder containing it, rather than being permissioned individually.
Última revisión: 28 de agosto de 2026. Browse the full glossary.