Privacy permissions: structuring your finance team on DigiDoe

As a business grows and more people need access to financial systems, the question of who can see what, and who can do what, becomes operationally important. DigiDoe's privacy permissions feature is designed to let account holders structure access for their finance teams without giving everyone full visibility or full authority over the account.

Why granular access controls matter

A single-user account works at early stage. As soon as a second person needs access, a decision has to be made: give them full access, or find a way to limit it. The options are not just practical; they have compliance and audit implications. Internal controls typically require that the person who initiates a payment is not the same person who approves it, and that access to sensitive financial data is restricted to those with a legitimate need.

For a regulated financial account, the stakes are higher. Inappropriate access to account data is a data protection issue. An unauthorised payment initiation is both a financial and a compliance issue. Access controls are part of the control environment.

How roles work on DigiDoe

DigiDoe's permissions model is built around roles. Each user invited to an account is assigned a role that determines what they can see and what actions they can take. The role structure is designed to reflect the typical division of responsibilities in a finance team:

• Admin: full access to account settings, user management, and all financial functions. Typically the account owner or a senior finance lead.
• Finance: can initiate and view payments and access transaction history, but does not have access to user management or account settings.
• Read-only / Viewer: can see balances and transaction history but cannot initiate transactions. Suitable for accountants, auditors, or compliance reviewers who need visibility without authority.

The exact role names and permission sets on the platform may differ from the above; this is an illustrative overview. Specific capabilities are described within the platform itself.

Inviting users

Inviting a team member to the account is done through the platform's user management section. The account admin sends an invitation to the user's email address and selects the role at that point. The invited user receives an email, creates their credentials, and accesses the account with the permissions assigned to their role.

Only admin users can invite new users or modify roles. This keeps the user management function within the control of designated individuals.

Practical considerations for finance teams

A few operational points worth noting:

• Separation of duties: assigning initiation and approval authority to different users supports the kind of internal control most finance policies require for payment authorisation.
• Audit trail: actions taken under each user's credentials are logged. This is relevant for internal audit and, in the event of a query, provides a record of who did what and when.
• Offboarding: when a team member leaves, removing their access is an immediate administrative step. Delays in offboarding create access-control gaps.
• Role reviews: as team responsibilities change, roles should be reviewed periodically. A user whose role changed six months ago may have more or less access than their current job requires.

Data visibility and GDPR

Access to financial transaction data carries data protection obligations. Transaction records can contain personal data about counterparties. Under GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2018, access to that data should be limited to those with a legitimate business purpose. The role-based model supports this by making it possible to restrict transaction-level visibility.

Account holders are data controllers for the data processed through their DigiDoe account. DigiDoe's privacy policy and data processing terms set out the responsibilities in the context of the account relationship.

Getting started

Privacy permissions are available within the DigiDoe platform. The full feature walkthrough is in the platform's help section. For questions about configuring access for a specific team structure, DigiDoe's account team can walk through the options. Contact details are on the contact page.

This article is a general educational overview. Specific platform features are subject to change. Nothing here is legal or compliance advice on access control obligations specific to your organisation.