Watermarking and labelling sensitive data in OBIEE reports/Dashboards

User_KLYW8

In one of our projects where we are handling strictly confidential data we have a requirement to have watermarks or Sensitivity labels for the data sets and reports which are using this sensitive information.

Please let me now how this can be done in OBIEE 12.2.1.4

User_KLYW8

Just checking if anyone had a similar requirement and Implemented it

[Deleted User]

"Reports" as in BI Publisher "report" objects can handle watermarks via their template: https://docs.oracle.com/middleware/bi12214/bip/BIPRD/GUID-A229808F-D2F6-458E-8E52-9E7FA156FF0E.htm#GUID-5F44E690-6080-49BC-A6AF-5F61F95DA034

"Reports" are not "analyses" as in Oracle Business Intelligence Answers "Analyses"!

Dashboards can not get watermarks in the classical sense but you can add as many pre-defined analyses stating that content is sensitive etc. to a dashboard page as you want.

Likewise you can simply add a new text view to any analysis (not "report"!) explaining the same thing.

User_KLYW8

Hi Christian,

Thanks for the reply and to be more clear we are more looking for this in OBIEE and also Oracle DV. Can you please highlight if we have any oracle documentation that i can use for reference for watermarking .

Also as it looks with your answer we can just add watermark as text in the analysis level and make it visible in the dashboard pages but if we need to have watermarking on dataset level is it anyways possible.and how can we achieve this in ODV when we have adhoc reporting done ?

[Deleted User]

"Thanks for the reply and to be more clear we are more looking for this in OBIEE and also Oracle DV. Can you please highlight if we have any oracle documentation that i can use for reference for watermarking ."

As stated in my answer above, only BIP has classical "watermarking" since it's a proper pixel-perfect reporting methodology. So there is no documentation.

"but if we need to have watermarking on dataset level is it anyways possible"

What does that mean "watermarking on dataset level"? A watermark is an identifying image or pattern - how would you expect this to work with a data set?

Gianni Ceresa

https://community.oracle.com/tech/apps-infra/discussion/comment/16816506#Comment_16816506

I struggle to imagine how watermarking on a dataset could look like.

How about you add a new column to your sensitive tables (database and/or logical in the RPD) with the value 'sensitive' in it? That sounds like watermarking a dataset, still it would be pointless because nobody is forced to add that column in any of their visualizations.

User_KLYW8

Hi Gianni Ceresa,

Yes I thought of this flagging in the database where we can have a column with this Sensitive flag but we cant always embed this in all the reports or it looks very weird if he have this in some only.

Also when coming to ODV as in OBIEE analyses where we can add the watermark on the analysis level it will be hard to have the users create that kind of watermarks with Adhoc analysis. So i was thinking if we need to have templates and can we use this watermarking in a saved ODV report so we suggest users to use that?

Gianni Ceresa

Taking your own reasoning a step further: what does force users to use your special template with the "sensitive" messages all around?

It sounds more like you are trying to solve a human problem in a technical way: educate your users, teach them about data sensitivity, about the rules on sharing or using that information and that if they abuse the rights they are being giving they will be fired. Problem solved.

No technology will really solve fully people problems. At the best you can try to limit it. Do not let people develop analysis or DV projects/workbooks on that dataset. Have them developed by a central unique team owning that data. This team will add messages in the dashboards/analysis/projects/workbooks saying it's strictly confidential. Let your users only use (read) these dashboards/analysis/projects/workbooks and remind all the users the basic rules of data handling, confidentiality etc.

[Deleted User]

https://community.oracle.com/tech/apps-infra/discussion/comment/16816524#Comment_16816524

+1000. Your problem isn't technical and won't ever safeguard your corporation in the way they think it magically would!