Data source credentials
In order to establish a connection to a data set, you must, naturally enough, have permission to access that data set. But what about the people who will view your reports or use the data source to build their own reports?
Data Studio provides 2 types of data source access control: owner's credentials access and viewer's credentials access.
Quick Tips: Owner's vs Viewer's Credentials
Configure data source credentials
- Navigate to the DATA SOURCES Home page.
- Locate the data source you want to configure, then click it to edit.
- Click the current credentials (either "USING OWNER'S CREDENTIALS" or "USING VIEWER'S CREDENTIALS")
- Select the new credential type.
Owner's credentials access
This option uses the credentials of the data source owner to authorize access to the data set. (You are the owner if you created the data source). Select this option if you want to let other people view or create reports that use this data without requiring them to have their own access to the data set.
Using the owner's credentials option does not grant other people the right to access the data set directly. The owner's credentials are never displayed or transmitted "in the clear."
Example
You've created a Google Analytics data source connecting to your company's All Website Traffic view. You selected owner's credentials in the data source Configuration tab. You've shared this data source with Nikhil and Betsy. Nikhil has his own Google Analytics login and permission to access the All Website Traffic view. Betsy does not have access to this view. However, both Nikhil and Betsy can view reports based on this data source, because it uses your credentials, not theirs.
Viewer's credentials access
This option requires each user of the data source (or reports built using the data source) to provide their own credentials to access the data set. If they do not have access to the data set, they won't be able view the data in reports, or edit the data source fields.
Example
It's the same scenario as above, only this time you've selected the viewer's credential option. You've shared a report built using this data source with the same people, but only Nikhil, who has his own credentials to the All Website Traffic view in Google Analytics will be able to see the data. When Betsy views the report, she will see not see this data.