Locked criteria
Creating locked criteria in classic queries or queries complies with privacy laws and protects your marketing data from those who should not have access to it.
Companies using a single platform across multiple internal marketing groups supporting different regions, divisions, or product lines are able to run queries against the entire marketing database, regardless of whether a contact belongs to them or not.
Allowing employees access contacts from other groups is a big security risk. Likewise, some countries have privacy laws prohibiting people in other countries from accessing information on their citizens. Failing to adhere to these laws can result in huge fines being levied.
Using locked criteria in both classic queries and queries has the following features.
- Organization Administrators can specify users that have limited access to segments of the database.
- Organization Administrators can create queries that can be assigned to restricted users.
- Organization Administrators can add, modify, and delete locked criteria to queries.
- Restricted users have segmenting activities defaulted to the scope of their restricted segments of the database.
- Restricted users have the ability to build queries based on their restricted access.
- Standard users can view locked criteria when it is present, but cannot add/edit/delete locked criteria.
View and use of locked criteria varies depending on the user type
Locked criteria function |
Org Admin |
Standard |
Reporting only |
Classic queries |
Queries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Add locked criteria to a query. | Yes | No | No query access. |
X |
X |
Change locked criteria query reference from 'is' to 'is not' and back | Yes | No | No query access. |
X |
|
Change locked criteria query referenced | Yes | No | No query access. |
X |
X |
View locked criteria in query builder | Yes - just the referenced query, not the criteria of that query. | Yes - just the referenced query, not the criteria of that query. | No query access. {C}{C} |
X |
X |
View locked criteria summary in query summary. | Yes - just the referenced query, not the criteria of that query. | Yes - just the referenced query, not the criteria of that query. | No query access. {C}{C} |
X |
X |
Delete locked criteria from query builder. | Yes | No | No query access. |
X |
X |
Add / edit / remove the editable criteria. | Yes | Yes | No query access. |
X |
X |
'Create like' queries with locked criteria | Yes | Yes | No query access. |
X |
X |
Add / edit / remove the editable criteria within a copy of a query with locked criteria | Yes | Yes | No query access. |
X |
X |
View query referenced by locked criteria | If user has permission to the location the query is saved. | If user has permission to the location the query is saved. | No query access. |
X |
|
Can set up the permission structure needed to keep designated standard users so that they can only view/edit/modify queries with relevant locked criteria | Yes | No | No query access. |
X |
X |
Enable locked criteria
To enable locked criteria make a request by contacting Support. After locked criteria is enabled, set up the folder permission structure for databases and queries so the user is appropriately restricted.
Modifying locked criteria
After the locked criteria are added to your query, the organization administrator can modify locked criteria just like editable criteria.
Only the following locked criteria can be modified.
- 'Is' and 'is not' can be modified.
- The query referenced can be modified.
- The criteria can be deleted.
- A new locked criteria can be added back in if desired.
Structure locked criteria in queries to read from a separate query
You can structure locked criteria in queries to read from a separate query.
When you do this, you can update one query that updates all queries that reference it.
For example, if the southeast territory changes no longer include South Carolina, the Organization Administrator simply opens the southeast territory query, removes "SC", and all locked criteria that reference the southeast territory query are also updated to no longer include SC.
Set up a query with locked criteria as an organization administrator
If you are an organization administrator, you can set up a query or modify an existing query with locked criteria.
- Log in to Acoustic Campaign as an Organization Administrator.
- Create a query or access an existing query in edit mode by selecting Edit Query from the query builder pop-up.
- Click Options and select Create Locked Criteria.
If you do not see this option, confirm that the "Enable Locked Query Functionality" is enabled for the organization and that your user is an organization administrator user.
- The query builder is now divided into two sections, locked and editable criteria.
- If there were no other criteria present when the locked criteria were added, the editable section shows the blue arrow and the prompt to add rules.
- There is now a new criteria in edit mode in the builder, but it is different than any other criteria you've seen:
- It supports only Is in query and Is not in query.
- It does not support parentheses.
- It does not have an AND/OR or the ability to toggle.
- It has a lock icon, signifying it is a locked criterion.
Note: If you return to Options, the Create Locked Criteria option will be grayed out because you can only have one locked criteria per query.
- Click Choose to select a query to include as the locked criteria.
- Select a query, then click Done to save the locked criteria.
Note: In our example, the "southeast rep" query pre-filters any editable criteria by the "southeast territory" query has been created. Now, when a standard user executes this query (calculate, send, search, or export, as part of a program) in the locked criteria context to only gets results from the subset of contacts in the southeast territory that have State listed as GA, FL, AL, TN, LA, NC, and SC.
Set up restrictions for locked criteria for a standard user
You can set up queries and classic queries with locked criteria and set up restrictions for the queries for the standard user for security.
- Log in to Acoustic Campaign as an organization administrator.
- Create an empty database folder and an empty query folder.
- Assign these folders in the Folder Limits section of the permissions for the restricted user (e.g. Sales Rep).
Using locked criteria as a standard user
After a query is created or modified with locked criteria, the standard user can work with the locked criteria.
- A standard user cannot create another query against any shared database outside of the folder they've been assigned.
- The user can view queries only in the shared query folder they were assigned.
- The user can, however, add editable criteria to the query in their view and use the Create Like function to create. additional queries with the locked criteria as their base.