Sensitive fields

A role can let someone work with a record and still keep some of its fields from them: a customer’s mobile number, a contact’s date of birth, the cost behind a quotation. This page is for whoever sets up roles; the fields are set per role, not per user.

Before you start

You need the Manage custom roles control to change a role. The Sensitive fields section is part of a custom role; standard roles cannot be changed. It depends on your plan: where your plan does not include it, the section is not shown and everyone who can open a record sees all its fields.

Steps

1. Select User accounts in the sidebar, then the Roles tab, and open a custom role, or select New role.
2. Scroll to Sensitive fields. Each row is one group of fields, with a View and an Edit level.
3. For each group, set View to No access, All records or Own records only. Cost and margin offers only No access and All records.
4. Set Edit the same way. Edit is never wider than View: with View at No access, Edit is off too.
5. Select Save changes, or Create role for a new one.

The five groups are:

Field	What it covers
E-mail addresses	E-mail addresses of contacts and leads
Phone numbers	Phone, mobile and fax of accounts, contacts and leads
Addresses	Street, city, state and postcode of accounts, contacts and leads; the country is not restricted
Personal details	Gender, date of birth, language, income, marital status and children of contacts
Cost and margin	Product cost, quotation line cost, and the cost, profit and margin of quotations and opportunities

What happens next

The change applies the next time each user of the role opens a record. Where they may not view a group:

• an e-mail address shows only its first letter and domain, such as a***@acme.sg;
• a phone number hides its last four digits, such as 9123 ****;
• an address line shows ****;
• personal details and cost are left out, and the form shows Hidden.

Where they may view a group but not edit it, the field is read-only and says Your role cannot change this.

Rules to know

• Own records only applies the level to records the user owns; on other records the group is masked or hidden.
• Searching, sorting and filtering by a group needs View at All records.
• The same limits apply in lists, Export to Excel, AI chat, @easy and connected AI apps.
• Quotation, invoice and credit note PDFs are not affected: a document prints what the customer needs.
• A new role starts with every group at All records, so nothing is hidden until you change it.

Why it works this way

Access to a record is not access to everything on it. A salesperson needs a customer’s account to quote, but not necessarily their home address or the margin on the deal. Masking keeps enough to recognise the right line, such as the e-mail domain, without giving the detail away.

The rule follows the data, not the screen. The same limits hold wherever the record is read, including exports and AI tools, so a field hidden on the form cannot be read another way.

Documents stay whole. A PDF goes to the customer, who needs your address and theirs in full, so sensitive fields never change what prints.

Work faster

• Start from a role you already have. Copy from on a new role copies its sensitive fields too. See Roles and permissions.
• Keep cost with the people who price. Set Cost and margin to No access for roles that sell but do not set prices. See Cost and gross margin.
• Check a key before you assign it. The Permissions reference lists every permission by name.

Examples

Lim & Co keeps cost with the directors. Mei Tan sells for Lim & Co and quotes every day. Her role, Sales, has Quote at All records, but Cost and margin at No access. On a quotation she sees each line’s price and the total, while each line’s cost and the quotation’s cost read Hidden. Daniel Lim, a director, keeps All records and sees both.

Own customers only. The part-time role at Lim & Co has Phone numbers View at Own records only. On Harbour Café’s contact, which she owns, the mobile reads 9123 4567. On a colleague’s contact it reads 9876 ****, and she cannot search contacts by phone number.

Common questions

• Does hiding a field delete it? No. The value stays on the record; people whose role may view it still see it in full.
• Why is the Sensitive fields section missing? Your plan does not include it, or you are looking at a standard role, which cannot be changed.
• Does a hidden field still print on the PDF? Yes. Sensitive fields do not change what a quotation, invoice or credit note PDF prints.
• Why can’t I search by phone number? Searching by a group needs View at All records in your role.
• Does the AI assistant see hidden fields? No. AI chat, @easy and connected AI apps read records with the same limits as the person using them.
• Why does a field say Your role cannot change this? Your role may view that group but not edit it. Ask an administrator to change Edit for it.

Related

• Roles and permissions
• Roles and sharing
• Permissions reference
• User accounts