The column visibility type set for each attribute and behavior affects how the users who are assigned to the policy can view and use those attributes and behaviors in Audience Studio.
Default column visibility determines the visibility of all new columns added to the parent segment.
Columns requiring alternate column visibility can be adjusted to a specific visibility setting. For example, if column X inherits the default setting of Clear, but later, the administrator sets the specific column visibility to PII, then the effective visibility of that column will be PII.
Changes to specific column visibility always override the default column visibility.
This article includes information about column visibility types and their influence.
| Column Visibility Type | Shows in Attribute/Behaviors Right Panel | Show Trends of Possible Values in Criteria Dropdown |
|---|---|---|
| Clear |  | |
| PII |  | |
| Blocked | | |
Any attributes and behaviors set to Clear are available in the attributes and behaviors rule list to use and as value options and trends in the criteria dropdown. In this example, the attributes and behaviors listed in the rule list and value criteria dropdown are set to Clear.
first_name set to Clear
full_country_name set to Clear
Attributes and behaviors set to PII and Blocked do not show as options in the rule list or value criteria dropdown. The attributes and behaviors listed in the rule list and value criteria dropdown are set to Clear. In this example, Contact Preferences, Customer Type, and email have been set to Blocked and Do Not Contact is set to PII so they do not show as options. All behaviors set to PII and Blocked also do not show.
Similar to batch segments, only Clear shows in the segment editor.
Only Clear attributes show up on the Profiles page. If all of the three attributes (last name, first name, and email) are set to Clear, all can be viewed. If either PII or Blocked is set the attribute is hidden.
All three attributes are Clear.
Only email attribute is Clear
None of the three attributes is _Clear.
_
For attributes, only those set to Clear show. The other values are hidden.
For behaviors, only those set to Clear show with the exception of Duration and Time which are always viewable. For example, if behaviors like Campaign or Page views are not set to Clear, those values will be hidden.
Funnel Stages act the same as segments. Only attributes and behaviors set to Clear are __shown in the Segment Editor.
When creating a predictive model the following restrictions are applied to Features page.
- Categorical features : Only attributes set to Clear display.
- Categorical array features : Only attributes set to Clear display.
- Quantitative features : Only attributes set to Clear display.
- Use suggested features: Only attributes set to Clear are suggested.
Model Performance Dashboard
Only attributes set to Clear are displayed in feature trends.
Predictive Scores
On the Predictive Scores page, the list of sample profiles based on the predictive model would only show attributes that are set to Clear, the same as Profiles.
Model Details
Only attributes and behaviors set to Clear are displayed.
When creating a Profiles API Token, the following restrictions apply:
- Lookup Key : Only columns with visibility set to PII or Clear show as options.
- Attributes : Only columns with visibility set to Clear show as options.
When viewing API Token details, the same restrictions apply.
- Lookup Key : Only columns with visibility set to PII or Clear show as options.
- Attributes : Only columns with visibility set to Clear how as options.
When creating an Activation and using the Column Mapping feature the following restrictions are applied.
- Source : Only attributes and behaviors set to PII and Clear show.
Clear Visibility Users :
- Have full access to dashboards and charts within Segment Insights.
PII/Blocked Visibility Users :
- Can access dashboards but are unable to view charts containing attributes marked as PII or Blocked.
Dashboard below :
Only attributes marked as Clear are visible in charts.
Attributes such as "Age" and "Gender," which are set to either "PII" or "Blocked," will not appear in charts for users assigned those visibility types.
All types of users can edit the dashboard, but users with PII/Blocked applied cannot delete or edit those columns.
To create or edit an Activation, the user needs to have enough permissions for:
- the columns used in the segment's rules (Clear)
- the columns used in output mappings (PII or Clear)
Checking for permissions to run an Activation is done based on the permissions of the last updater of the Activation.
Example:
| User | Age (used in Rule) | Email (used in Mapping) | Create | Edit | Activate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Clear | ||||
| PII | | | | ||
| B | Blocked | PII | | | |
| C | Clear | ||||
| Blocked | | | |
Create Activation
- User A can create an Activation under the Segment that uses age and exports using email.
- User B cannot create an Activation under the Segment because User B doesn't have enough permission for age which is used in the Segment
- User C cannot create an Activation that exports using email because User C doesn't have enough permission for email.
Edit Activation
- User A can edit the Activation with a Segment that uses age and exports using email.
- User B cannot edit or save the Activation because User B doesn't have enough permission for age for the Segment. This doesn't change the last updater.
- User C cannot save the Activation unless email is removed from output mappings. This doesn't change the last updater.
To Run Activation
- User A can run the Activation with a Segment that uses age and exports using email.
- User B can run the Activation because permissions for running it are based on User A.
- User C can run the Activation because permissions for running it are based on User A.
If permissions change for User A, such as email is set to Blocked, User A cannot run the activation nor can User B or User C because the permissions check is done for User A, but User A's permissions are no longer sufficient. Scheduled run also starts to fail.
When a user tries to view, edit, or use a segment that was previously created by another user who had a less restrictive policy applied, the following principles must be applied.
PII and Blocked columns need to be masked for User B so that sensitive information which User B should not see will not be leaked.
Data masking for this scenario applies to the following Audience Studio objects:
- Segment Editor rules for
- Batch Segments
- Real-time Segments
- Funnel stages
- Predictive Scores
- Profiles API Token
- Activations
Here are examples of User B's views:
- Clear: User B can select column values from the drop-down. In this case, Use B can select gender ’s value and change it from 'female' to 'male'.
- PII: User B cannot see or edit the value of the column. The user can see the column name, but the value is masked.
- Blocked: User B cannot see the column name or value. Both the column name and value are masked.
- Clear: User B can see both the column (attribute) name and value.
- PII: User B can only see the column (attribute) name but not the value.
- Blocked : Use B can see neither column (attribute) name nor the value.
For Lookup Key and Attributes
- Clear: User B can see column name (which was previously selected by User A) and in the drop-down other columns will show
- PII: User B can see column name (which was previously selected by User A) and in the drop-down other columns will show
- Blocked : User B cannot see column name (which was previously selected by User A)
When two different visibility types are set for the same columns in two different policies that have both been assigned to the same person, the least restrictive visibility type is the effective visibility. The order of visibility, from the least restrictive to the most restrictive is: Clear, PII, Blocked. For example, if both Policy A and Policy B have column visibility types for the same parent segment and are both assigned to a user named Joe, the effect is as shown in the following.
| Policy | Name | Agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Clear | PII | PII |
| B | PII | Clear | Blocked |
The final and effective visibility for each column for Joe will be:
- Name : Clear
- Email : Clear
- Agent : PII
To check for a user’s effective visibility scope for any parent segment, an administrator can show all permissions for a user.
When the Audience Column Visibility feature is turned on, the user can see the option for configuring the column visibility type in Audience Studio permissions. By default the All Column Visibility is set to Clear. If the user does not configure the Column Visibility for the parent segment by clicking Edit v5 Column Visibility and selecting a different default Column Visibility, all columns have a default visibility of Clear.
This impacts the effective column visibility of a parent segment. If the administrator overlooks the default visibility type setting of Clear and creates another policy for the same user and parent segment, but configures the column visibility types to PII, or Blocked, those visibility settings won't take effect as a result of the least restrictive visibility type becomes the effective visibility type which in this case is Clear.
This example shows Policy A which has no column visibility configuration for the Parent Segment "US Sales" and Policy B which has column visibility configuration, both assigned to a user named Joe.
| Policy | Name | Model | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Clear | Clear | Clear |
| B | Blocked | PII | PII |
The final and effective visibility for each column for Joe will be:
- Name : Clear
- Email : Clear
- Model : Clear