Introduction

When organizations want to share metrics widely, one common hurdle is user authentication. Asking every visitor to create an account just to view dashboards can discourage engagement and slow down access to important KPIs. This is where anonymous dashboard embedding comes in. It allows people to view and interact with dashboards without logging in, making data more accessible while still keeping control and security in place.

In this blog, we’ll explore what anonymous dashboard embedding is, why it matters, and how to embed dashboards for anonymous users.

What Is Anonymous User Access in Dashboard Embedding?

Anonymous user access in dashboard embedding refers to the process of allowing users to view and interact with the data of a dashboard integrated into a website or application without requiring them to log in or be registered within the dashboard’s native platform.

Why Anonymous User Access Matters

Embedding dashboards for anonymous users provides several strategic advantages for businesses by removing login barriers while maintaining control:

• No Barriers to Entry: Any website visitor can navigate and explore interactive dashboards without logging in or signing up.
• Scalability: This enables sharing dashboards with hundreds or thousands of users easily and efficiently.
• Inclusive Data Access: This simplifies access, ensuring a broader audience can engage with the data.
• Interactive Engagement: The embedded dashboards allow users to filter, explore, and interact with data, fostering a deeper understanding and insights into it.
• Empowering Conversations: Encourages meaningful discussions about the data among a broader set of minds.
• Security: Features such as anonymous user embed tokens and RLS ensure controlled access and prevent unauthorized public data sharing.

How to Embed Dashboards for Anonymous Users

Bold BI® provides a secure and flexible way to embed dashboards for anonymous users who do not have accounts in the system. This is especially useful for public-facing platforms, customer portals, and external partner dashboards where managing individual user credentials is impractical. The following are the different ways to enable anonymous user dashboard embedding in Bold BI.

System User Configuration

Bold BI creates a system user—an invisible user account in the server database. This user is stored in the Bold BI server database but is not listed among regular users. You can activate this option in the UMS Accounts page, which allows dashboards to be rendered for anonymous viewers without authentication. Learn more about enabling a system user.

Group-Based Authorization

Instead of assigning dashboards to individual users, create groups without users and assign permissions to those groups.

Embed Token Authentication

When embedding dashboards in your website or app, you can generate a secure embed token to secure the anonymous embedding. These tokens include parameters such as:

• embed_anonymous_token=true
• embed_user_email (a placeholder email address)
• embed_authorize_group (group name for access control)

The app passes this token in the background, so the end-user never needs to log in. These tokens are generated via an authorization API and passed to the dashboard rendering logic in your application. Explore token-based embedding setup.

Public Dashboard Option

For simpler use cases, Bold BI also allows dashboards to be marked as public, making them accessible to anyone with the link. This is done via the dashboard’s context menu by selecting Ma****rk Public. How to make dashboards public.

Row-Level Security (RLS) for Anonymous Users

Even without login, Bold BI supports row-level security to ensure that anonymous users only see data relevant to their group or context. This is achieved by passing the anonymous user’s details and custom attribute values in the Bold BI JavaScript Authorize API using the following query parameters: embed_anonymous_token, embed_authorize_group, and** embed_custom_attribute**. These parameters ensure that the dashboard renders data filtered based on the user’s information and permissions.

Learn how to apply RLS for anonymous users.

Use Cases of Anonymous User Access with Bold BI

Embedding dashboards for anonymous users in Bold BI offers versatile applications across different industries, enabling organizations to share metrics securely but without authentication.

Budget Transparency for Government Agencies

Government institutions can promote transparency by embedding dashboards that show how public funds are allocated. The School Improvement Grants Dashboard is a great example. It visualizes how education grants are distributed and their impact. By embedding this dashboard for anonymous users, agencies can keep citizens informed and engaged without requiring them to log in.

Public Health Dashboards in Healthcare

Health departments can use Bold BI to embed dashboards for public users and share real-time health data with the public without logging in. For example, the Coronavirus Disease Situation Dashboard displays global and regional case trends, recovery rates, and testing statistics. By embedding this dashboard for anonymous users on a public health website, healthcare leaders can keep communities informed and let them make timely decisions without needing credentials.

Academic Performance Dashboards in Education

Educational institutions can embed dashboards that track student performance, enrollment, and retention. The School Performance Dashboard allows administrators, students, and parents to view key metrics like student-to-faculty ratios and graduation rates. This improves transparency for the community the school serves.

Marketing Performance Dashboards for Public Engagement

Marketing firms can embed dashboards on their websites to showcase campaign performance and attract potential customers. This Bold BI Marketing Performance Dashboard tracks KPIs like website traffic, lead conversion rates, and ROI. By embedding this dashboard for anonymous users, businesses can share data with stakeholders and prospects without requiring login access.

Conclusion

Empowering anonymous users in dashboard embedding transforms how businesses share data, breaking down barriers to data access. Bold BI® provides secure, scalable solutions with intuitive embedding options, letting users explore dashboards while maintaining data integrity and security.

Take the next step! Sign up for a free trial or request a live demo to get started. You can also schedule a Bold BI onboarding call to discuss your specific needs. For more information, contact our support team.