> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.linkxg.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Visibility controls
> How to control what each customer can see through share policies
Share policies are how you control what data each customer can see. Every active connection has a share policy that determines which products are visible and at what level of detail.
## The principle: default deny
LinkXG operates on a default-deny basis. If you do not explicitly share something, the customer cannot see it.
This means:
* Customers only see products you have included in the share policy
* Customers only see fields allowed by the visibility package you selected
* Your upstream suppliers are obfuscated by default
You are always in control.
***
## Visibility packages
Instead of configuring individual fields, you select a **visibility package** that bundles related fields into meaningful disclosure levels.
| Package | What the customer sees |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Public Preview** | Product name only; your company identity is obfuscated |
| **Basic** | Name, category, your company name and country, certification flags |
| **Standard** | Name, SKU, category, description, basic specifications, certification documents, origin (country/region) |
| **Full** | All product data except pricing and personally identifiable information |
**Standard** is the default for new connections. It provides enough information for most business purposes without exposing sensitive details.
***
## Configuring a share policy
Go to **Connections**, select a customer, and select **Share policy**.
### Product scope
Choose which products to share:
| Option | What it means |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **All products** | Everything in your portfolio is shared (subject to the visibility package) |
| **Selected products** | You choose specific products to include |
| **By category** | All products in selected categories are shared |
If you select "All products", new products you add will automatically be shared with this customer.
### Visibility package
Select the package that matches your disclosure intent. See the table above for what each package includes.
### Field overrides
For fine-tuning, you can override specific fields within your chosen package:
* **Reveal** a field that the package would normally hide
* **Hide** a field that the package would normally show
Overrides are limited to a defined set of fields to keep policies manageable.
### Upstream visibility
By default, your own suppliers — the inputs to your products — appear to your customers as obfuscated references like "Upstream Supplier U-1842". Revealing any of them is a deliberate choice, and it only ever happens when both companies across a link agree.
This is governed by two independent controls, both switched **off** by default and covered in full under [Upstream profile visibility](#upstream-profile-visibility) below:
* Whether **your own profile** may be seen by companies further down the chains you sell into.
* Whether you **expose your suppliers' profiles** to your customers.
Nothing here can reveal a supplier that has not itself agreed to be seen, and no customer can force a supplier into view.
***
## How obfuscation works
When a customer views one of your products, they may see inputs from your own suppliers. By default, these upstream suppliers are protected:
**What the customer sees:**
* "Upstream Supplier U-1842" (a pseudonym, not the real name)
* Country of origin (e.g., Germany)
* Certification presence (e.g., ISO 9001 ✓)
* Contribution type and quantity bands
**What the customer does not see:**
* The supplier's legal name
* Specific location (city, address)
* Documents that might reveal identity
The pseudonym is stable for this customer — they will always see the same "U-1842" reference for the same supplier. But different customers get different pseudonyms, preventing them from cross-referencing your supply chain.
***
## Upstream profile visibility
Most of a supply chain is a fog of anonymous companies: past your direct suppliers and past your direct customers, everyone is a per-customer pseudonym. **Upstream profile visibility** lets that fog lift on purpose — one relationship at a time, and only when both companies across a link agree.
There are two distinct things you control. They are independent, and both start switched **off**.
### 1. Whether the companies you sell to can see who you are
This is about *your own* identity travelling upstream-to-downstream. When you turn it on, a customer of your customer — and companies further down the chains you sell into — may see your real company profile instead of a pseudonym.
* **Allow my profile to be shared downstream** — a single switch that opts you in across all the chains you sell into.
* **Per-customer override** — for a specific customer, allow or deny that customer's own customers seeing you, whatever the global switch says.
### 2. Whether your customers can see who your suppliers are
This is about *your suppliers'* identities. When you turn it on, the companies you sell to may see the real profiles of the suppliers behind your products.
* **Share our suppliers' profiles with our customers** — a single switch across all your suppliers.
* **Per-supplier override** — share, or withhold, one specific supplier.
Exposing a supplier only takes effect if **that supplier has also agreed** to be seen through you. You can never reveal a supplier that has kept its own visibility switched off, and no customer of yours can force a supplier into view. Both sides of every link must point the same way.
### Mutual consent, one link at a time
A company one step further up a chain becomes visible to a company one step further down **only when both ends of the link between them have agreed** — the upstream company has allowed itself to be seen, and the company in the middle has agreed to pass it on. Neither half alone reveals anything. A company can never be exposed by someone else acting alone.
### The fog lifts as far as agreement reaches
Consent composes along the chain. Starting from a customer and walking upstream, each consented link reveals one more company. The first link that has *not* consented is the frontier: that company, and everything beyond it, stays anonymous. So one customer might see two steps up your chain because every link agreed that far, while a different customer, on a different path, sees a different depth.
### What a reveal shows
A reveal is all-or-nothing. A revealed company shows its **full profile** — the same information a direct connection sees (identity, registration details, certifications, facilities, attributes). There is no partial, field-by-field middle setting: a company that has agreed to be known by a partner is known, not half-known. A company that is not revealed shows only its pseudonym, exactly as before.
### Requests: turning a link on when asked
A company further down a chain can ask to see a company that has not yet been shared — you, or one of your suppliers. The request arrives in your **Action Centre**, where you can approve or decline it. Approving grants the reveal to *that requester only* — it does not expose the company to everyone. The standing switches above are the broad path; a request is the targeted one.
### You can always change your mind
Every switch is revocable. Turn one off and the affected companies return to their pseudonyms the next time a supply-chain graph is drawn — there is nothing cached to clear, and the change takes effect immediately.
***
## Making changes
You can update a share policy at any time:
* Add or remove products from scope
* Change the visibility package
* Adjust field overrides
* Reveal or re-obfuscate upstream suppliers
Changes take effect immediately for new data access. Previously shared snapshots are preserved for audit — you can always prove what was visible at a given point in time.
***
## Audit trail
Every access to your shared data is logged. Go to a connection's **Activity** tab to see:
* When the customer accessed your data
* Which products they viewed
* What fields were returned (based on the policy at that time)
This audit trail supports compliance reporting and lets you demonstrate exactly what was shared with whom.
***
## Common questions
**What is the default share policy for new connections?**
New connections use the **Standard** visibility package with **All products** in scope. You can change this immediately after accepting the connection or at any time afterwards.
**Can I have different policies for different products with the same customer?**
The share policy applies to the connection as a whole. If you need different visibility for different products, you can use field overrides or consider whether those products should be in separate categories with different sharing rules.
**What happens if I reduce visibility after sharing data?**
The customer immediately loses access to fields or products you have removed. They can no longer see that data. However, audit records of past access are preserved.
**Can a customer request more visibility?**
Yes. A company further down a chain can request that an upstream company be revealed to it. Requests appear in your Action Centre, and you can approve or decline. A reveal only completes when both companies across the link agree, and an approved request reveals the company to that requester alone. See [Upstream profile visibility](#upstream-profile-visibility).
***
## Next steps
Build out your product portfolio
Common issues and how to resolve them