Permission Framework¶
Alation’s permissions system is grounded in data governance and access control principles. Alation Data Quality visibility and functionality are fully aligned with the permissions users already have within the Alation platform.
Access-Based Visibility¶
Users can only view data quality checks, monitors, and results for tables and columns they have access to via Alation’s catalog permissions. If a user lacks access to an object, it will be excluded from their data quality views and dashboards.
Partial Access Handling¶
In instances where users have partial access to datasets within a monitor, they will receive descriptive messages explaining why certain items are restricted. This ensures transparency while maintaining security boundaries.
Read-Only¶
Users All other users, such as Composers, Explorers, or general data consumers, have read-only access to view the results of existing monitors—again, only for data they are permitted to see. They cannot create or edit checks.
This model ensures governance alignment while minimizing confusion and maintaining trust in the system’s outputs by limiting check creation to authorized roles and enforcing strict object-level visibility.
Server, Catalog, or Source Admin |
Steward |
Composer |
Explorer |
Viewer |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Access the Data Quality dashboard |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
View the Data Quality information on catalog pages of assets |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Add monitors |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Edit monitors |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Delete monitors |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Run monitors |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Recommend checks with AI |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Configure Data Quality alerts |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Receive Data Quality alerts |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |