What is granular access control?
Granular access control is the ability to set precisely who can see or do what, document by document and person by person, rather than granting all-or-nothing access to a whole folder.
Granular access control means permissions at fine resolution. Instead of 'anyone with the link can view everything', you decide per person and per document: this investor sees the financials but not the customer list; that adviser can view but not download; this party's access expires on Friday. The finer the control, the closer what each viewer sees matches what they are actually entitled to.
This is the principle of least privilege applied to documents: give each viewer the minimum access they need, and no more. It shrinks the blast radius if a single recipient is careless or turns hostile, because their reach was limited from the start.
Granular control is what separates a data room from a shared drive. A folder link is usually a blunt instrument - in or out. A data room lets you gate, scope, time-limit and revoke access at the level of the individual viewer and the individual document.
In 99 Data Rooms
How it works here.
In 99 Data Rooms each link is controlled on its own terms: gate it with a passcode, a verified-email code or NDA acceptance, set expiry, and revoke it in one click even after it has been opened. Every viewer's access is tracked page by page, so control and visibility go together, with everything UK-hosted and encrypted at rest.
Common questions
Granular access control, in short.
What is the principle of least privilege?
It is the rule that each person should have only the access they genuinely need, and no more. Applied to documents, it means scoping and gating each viewer's access so a single careless or hostile recipient can reach as little as possible.
Can I revoke access after someone has already opened a document?
Yes. In 99 Data Rooms a link can be revoked in one click at any time, including after it has been viewed, which cuts off further access immediately.
Related terms
What is a virtual data room?
A virtual data room (VDR) is a secure online space for sharing sensitive business documents with outside parties, where every viewer is controlled and every view is tracked.
DefinitionWhat is an NDA gate?
An NDA gate requires a viewer to accept a non-disclosure agreement before they can open a shared document, with each acceptance recorded against their email and a timestamp.
DefinitionWhat is a deal room?
A deal room is a secure online space set up for a single transaction, where the parties to a fundraise, sale or acquisition share confidential documents and run due diligence under controlled access.
Try it on a real document. Turn a PDF into a tracked, revocable link in a couple of minutes. Three rooms stay free for as long as you want them, no card required.