Sharing Data Studio Reports Safely: Viewer Access, Credentials and Ownership

• Owner’s credentials vs viewer’s credentials
• Keep ownership with the business
• Share with groups, not people
• Review access twice a year

Most Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) problems I’m asked to fix after a staff change come down to who owns what. I’m Harsh Khubchandani, an independent Data Studio consultant based in New Delhi, and these are the sharing rules I set on every project.

§Owner’s credentials vs viewer’s credentials

A data source using owner’s credentials lets anyone with report access see the data, using the owner’s permission. Viewer’s credentials make each reader use their own access. I use owner’s credentials for client dashboards and viewer’s credentials for anything containing sensitive data.

§Keep ownership with the business

Reports and data sources should belong to an account the business controls, not a freelancer’s or a single employee’s personal Gmail. I build in my workspace if needed, then transfer ownership before handover.

§Share with groups, not people

• Use a Google Group for viewers and another for editors.
• Give edit access to as few people as possible.
• Turn off link sharing for anything internal.

§Review access twice a year

I suggest a simple calendar reminder to review who has access to reports and data sources. It takes ten minutes and prevents most surprises.

Sharing and ownership are part of the handover checklist I use in a free 30-minute report review. Details at https://datastudioconsultant.com/