# Set a field's confidentiality tier

> Choose who sees a field's values in every record, from the Who sees it setting in the field editor.

Source: https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/set-a-field-tier
Who: Admin or Engineering. Plan: Every plan.
Last verified: 2026-11-11

## Before you start

- To open **Fields**, you need the Admin role, or Engineering with Confidential visibility. An Engineering member can't make every change; see [Who can make a field more visible](#who-can-make-a-field-more-visible).
- The table and its fields exist. If not, start with [Create a table and its fields](/guide/tables/create-a-table).
- Decide each field's tier. Public fields can reach customers, Internal fields stay with staff, and Confidential fields are for members cleared to see them.
- The built-in columns (Name, Model #, SKU, Description) are always Public.
- Curves have their own **Visibility**, set per series under **Data series (curves)** further down the same page.

## Steps

1. Open **Fields** in the sidebar.
2. Pick the table in the **Tables** list on the left. The **Visibility** column shows each field's current tier.

   ![Fields page for a pumps table, with a Visibility column showing a tier chip on every field](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/set-a-field-tier-1.png)

   *The Visibility column shows each field's tier at a glance.*

3. Click the pencil icon (**Edit field**) on the field's row.
4. Scroll to **Who sees it** at the bottom of the dialog.
5. Pick Public, Internal or Confidential. The line under the choice says where the field can appear.

   ![The Who sees it section of the field editor, with three tier choices and a hint line below them](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/confidentiality-review/set-a-field-tier-2.png)

   *Pick the tier; the hint below it says where the field can appear.*

6. Click **Save changes**.

> **Tip:** A field you add with **Add field** starts as Internal. Nothing new reaches customers until you choose Public.

## Who can make a field more visible

A tier is a promise about who sees a value, so an Engineering member can tighten it but never loosen it for data that already exists. An Admin can do both.

- Stricter is always fine: Public to Internal, or Internal to Confidential.
- More visible only while the field is empty. A new field can take any tier, and so can a field no record has filled in yet. Once a record holds a value, a file or a link in it, an Admin makes it more visible.
- A computed field is never more visible than what it reads. A Calculated field whose formula reads a Confidential field must be Confidential too. The same goes for a field from linked records and for a curve's calculated lines. Computed fields fill in as soon as the table has a record, so they count as holding data from then on.

The tiers you can't pick are greyed out under *Who sees it*, with the reason below them.

> **Showing a field on the portal.** A Public field shows on the portal only for Published records in tables ticked under **Tables in the catalog**. Most Public fields also offer **Headline on the portal**, which adds the value to the catalog's product list.

## What happens after

The new tier applies at once to that field in every record of the table. Members whose visibility is below the tier no longer see the field in the grid or on record pages. The portal and the API apply it on their next request. Spec sheets generated before the change keep what they printed, so the table's sheets are marked stale. **Regenerate all** on the dashboard's *Documents out of date* card makes each one again with its own template, language and visibility.