🎛️ Plan properties
Every protection plan carries three properties. You set them when creating the plan, and together they decide who can reach the data and what stands between a request and a reveal.
Sharing: Shared / Private
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Shared | The teams you choose get access to the plan. |
| Private | The plan is yours alone: no team access and no moderation. Authentication is always required. |
Access type: Moderated / Direct access
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Moderated | Every access request needs approval from the plan's moderators, with the threshold you set. See Moderation. |
| Direct access | Authorised members can open the plan without moderator approval. Authentication is then mandatory. |
Authentication required: on / off
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| On | The requester first confirms the request with SafeKey Mobile or an email link. See Authentication. |
| Off | Only available on Moderated Data Backup plans: the moderators then carry the approval. |
How the properties combine
A plan is never unguarded. Every configuration keeps at least one governance method: moderation, authentication, or both.
| Configuration | Moderation | Authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Shared · Moderated | Yes | Your choice |
| Shared · Direct access | No | Always on |
| Private | No | Always on |
| Business Continuity | Your choice | Always on |
A shared plan can be given to up to five teams. To include more people, put them in a team.
Your organisation can narrow these choices in its settings: for example by requiring authentication or moderation on every plan, or by not allowing private plans. Switches you cannot change are locked by those settings.
Choosing in practice
Think about how often the data is needed and how sensitive it is:
- Frequent, moderate risk → Direct access: authentication alone keeps the door personal
- Rare, critical → Moderated: humans stay in the loop for every reveal
When in doubt, start Moderated. Loosening a plan later is a decision you can make with usage in front of you.
Business Continuity plans are always Shared and always require authentication, so you only set the access type there. The Dead Man Switch is not a property: it comes with the plan type.