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[Cekou C.]

Hi ALL(),

As part of a study, I will need to share a .pbix file with third parties, and the source data (.txt files) contains confidential information.

I want the source data to remain as .txt file, so importing it to excel beforehand and encrypt the data in Excel is not an option.

My idea is to get the data from the .txt files through Power Query. Do all my transformations and encrypt all the confidential information in Power Query. Then load the cleansed data into the model with no single confidential information left. And finally, build my reports on top of it.

Now, the question:

If I share such a .pbix file with a third-party, will he be able to open the Query Editor and see all the applied steps all the way up to the source data? Considering that they won’t have the .txt source data files saved on their computer?

According to what I’ve observed so far, is that when you try to open the query editor from a .pbix file where the source data is not located on your local drive you get an Error Message prompting you to update the Data Source Settings, as you can see below:

As a result, you will not be able to see how the data was like at the time of import. And this is the exact behaviour that I want to get from Power Query when sharing my .pbix files.

And now, the next question:

Is my understanding correct? Is it safe for me to proceed as described above so that I can safely share my .pbix files?

Thank you ALL() for your inputs.

Kr,

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Cekou C.
Accounting Supervisor & PBI Enthusiast
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[Audrey Abbey]

You are correct – but I would still recommend testing with a trusted 3rd party. 

The user will be able to see the final data in the data view pane, but not the steps used to get there. 
The steps are in the query editor, and they will see errors when they open it if the source is not reachable. 

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Audrey Abbey
SR. BI Developer/Analyst
LeapFrogBI
Portland OR
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[Cekou C.]

Great

Thank you for confirming my understanding.

Kr,?

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Cekou C.
Accounting Supervisor & PBI Enthusiast
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