Restriction rules for narrowing access to sensitive health records
Key Takeaway
A restriction rule only narrows access: the users it applies to see only records that match its criteria, even when sharing settings would give them more.
Restriction rules narrow which records a user can see. They filter the records a user already gets through org-wide defaults, sharing rules, and other sharing mechanisms. Use them to keep sensitive or confidential records, such as tasks and events, away from users who don't need them for their work.
How a rule narrows access
Sharing settings decide what a user can read. A restriction rule then scopes that set down to the records that match the rule's criteria, even when sharing settings grant broader access. The rule only narrows access, so it can't give a user records that sharing settings don't already give them. A rule works like a list view or report filter, except that it is permanent.
An active rule filters records in these places:
- Links
- List views
- Lookups
- Records
- Related lists
- Reports
- Search
- SOQL
- SOSL
A user who opens a link to a record that the rule now hides gets an error message.