An access policy establishes rules that limit user or program access to specified segments. Access policies increase application performance because they limit the number of segments that a user or program can query.
Access policies reduce the amount of data that the database retrieves, which improves both query performance and application response time. When a user or program queries the database, the database performs operations on only the segments specified in the user or program access policy.
When you create an access policy, you apply it to one dimension of a segmentation group. For example, you want to limit an application user's access on a general ledger segmentation group to one year of data. You create the user access policy and apply it to the time dimension of the segmentation group. Create an access policy for each dimension associated with the segmentation group.
Before you create access policies based on program or user, create a default access policy. The default access policy applies to anything that can query the database. Access policies that you create for specific programs or users override the default access policy.
Access policies are dynamic and can be changed depending on business needs. Users can optionally manage their own access policies.
Access Policy Example
Most application users and programs in your organization rarely need access to more than one year of application data. You configure the default access policy to limit access on all segmentation groups to one year of data. A program that accesses the general ledger segmentation group to run month-end processes, however, needs to access only quarterly data. You create an access policy specifically for this program. You also create an application user access policy for a business analyst who needs access to three years of data on all segmentation groups.