> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.pears.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.pears.io/engage/community-relationships/contact-permissions.md).

# Contact Permissions

Control who can see a contact's details, understand masked contact information, and request access in the CRM.

Every CRM contact carries its own permissions. What a user sees when they open a contact depends on the **sharing grants** on that record — and unlike most PEARS modules, a contact's email and phone numbers are hidden from users who have not been granted access.

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** [Partners](/engage/partners/partner-permissions.md) use the same sharing model with a wider default preview.
{% endhint %}

## Access Tiers

| Tier        | What the user sees                                                                                                                                                                     | How it's granted                                                                                                                                    |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Minimal** | Only the contact's **Name**, **Organization**, **City**, **State**, and **Record Owner**. Email and phone numbers are masked. Interactions the user doesn't have access to are hidden. | The floor — every user in your organization holds at least this much.                                                                               |
| **View**    | The full contact record, read-only.                                                                                                                                                    | A sharing grant with **View Only** access that reaches the user.                                                                                    |
| **Edit**    | The full record, with the ability to change it.                                                                                                                                        | A sharing grant with **View & Edit** access, or being the record's owner, the owner's supervisor, a Data Manager, or an Organization Administrator. |

### Masked Values

Contact details are masked on the server, not merely hidden in the interface — a masked value is never sent to the browser and never appears in an export.

| Field                     | Masked as        |
| ------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Email address             | `*****@*****`    |
| Phone number              | `(***) ***-****` |
| Private interaction notes | `(private note)` |

{% hint style="warning" %}
**NOTE:** A mask and a blank field are deliberately different. A masked value tells you the contact has an email address you cannot see; a blank tells you there isn't one on record.
{% endhint %}

### Anyone Can Log an Interaction

A user at the **Minimal** tier can still [log an interaction](/engage/community-relationships/create-an-interaction.md) with the contact, even though they cannot see the contact's details. This is intentional — recording that an engagement happened should never require access to someone's personal information.

### Demographics Are Manager-Only

A contact's [demographics](/engage/community-relationships/contact-demographics.md) — gender, age, race, and ethnicity — are not governed by the access tiers. They are visible and editable only to the record's owner, the owner's supervisors, Data Managers, and Organization Administrators, regardless of any sharing grant.

## The Baseline Grant

When a contact's [General Information](/engage/community-relationships/add-a-contact.md) is saved, PEARS creates the record's first sharing grant automatically, targeting the **owner's unit**. Everyone in that unit and the units beneath it gets **View Only** access.

Every later share adds another grant, and access is the union of every grant that reaches a user.

{% hint style="info" %}
**TIP:** Contacts no longer collect a Unit field of their own, which is why the baseline grant follows the record owner's unit instead.
{% endhint %}

## Share a Contact

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Open the Permissions section

From the contact record, click **Permissions** in the progress panel.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Add a share

Under **Shared with**, add a grant and choose what it targets — a **Person**, a **Unit** and everything beneath it, or your whole **Organization**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Choose the access level

Set the grant to **View Only** or **View & Edit**.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**NOTE:** Managing sharing grants is limited to the record's owner, the owner's supervisors, Data Managers, and Organization Administrators. A user with **View & Edit** can change the contact's details but cannot re-share the record.
{% endhint %}

## Request Access

A user at the **Minimal** tier sees a **Request access** button on the contact.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Choose the access you need

Select **View Only** or **View & Edit**.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Add a reason (optional)

Explain why you need access. The reason is shown to the record owner.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Submit

PEARS emails the record owner, and the request appears on the contact as **Pending**.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

The owner can **Approve** the request — creating a grant at the level requested — or **Deny** it. A user can have only one open request per contact at a time.

## Interaction Privacy

Each interaction also carries its own audience, set by **Who can view this interaction?** when it is logged. See [Create an Interaction](/engage/community-relationships/create-an-interaction.md#set-who-can-view-the-interaction).

## Related Documentation

* [Partner Permissions](/engage/partners/partner-permissions.md) — The same model applied to partner records.
* [Contact Demographics](/engage/community-relationships/contact-demographics.md) — The manager-only demographics section.
* [Editable Users](/accounts-and-permissions/accounts-and-permissions/editable-users.md) — How supervisor access is determined.