Microsoft Teams Public vs Private: Key Differences

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“Are Private Channels really safe to share confidential data?”

This was a query that we received on our forum page from a user. Having doubts about the security is reasonable when you’re sharing confidential data over a platform. Private channels in Microsoft Teams can only be accessed by a selected group of users invited in the channel. This adds a layer of security to protect sensitive data that Public channels lack. Understanding the key differences between these two types of channels will help you choose the one as per your requirements.

Public vs Private Teams Channels: Key Differences

Public channels are open and accessible to all the team members and can be viewed by anybody, at any time. On the other hand, Private channels can only be accessed by the invited members and are closed for non-members. Let’s know more about this in detail.

What is Public Teams Channel?

Public channel in Microsoft Teams is a collaborative channel that allows all the members of an organization to communicate and collaborate at one place. All the data that’s shared in this channel is visible to all the members. Anyone that’s a member of your organization can view all the messages, access files and search for content in the channel. Any team that is newly created is by default public to the members of the team. Public channels are best for organization-wide collaboration, general conversation threads, and for collaboration with multiple members.

What is Private Teams Channel?

Private channel in Microsoft Teams is a closed, restricted group of selected members within a team. It’s primarily used to discuss confidential matters that can’t be discussed with others. It’s indicated by a Padlock icon to denote the restricted status and is accessible to the invited team members only. Mainly it’s used for budgeting discussions, confidential project discussions, and for HR discussions.

Here this table will display the key differences between Public and Private Teams channels.

Scope	Public	Private
Visibility	Visible to all team members	Visible only to members of the channel
SharePoint permissions	Everyone except external users	Separate site collection accessible to members only
Membership	Open to all members	Restricted to members of the channel
Security	Low, data can be accessed by anyone	Comparatively high, only channel members can access data
Use case	General collaboration	Confidential and restricted chats

When to Choose Microsoft Teams Public vs Private Channels

What you choose depends on the requirements that you have and policies your organization allows. Read the given points and decide what works best for you.

Choose Public channels:

• Best for organization-wide communication and collaboration.
• Information being shared is useful for the whole company and not confidential.
• Collaboration from other teams and departments is expected.

Choose Private channels:

• Best for sharing confidential information with a small group of people.
• When organization policy requires restricted access to a few users.
• Focused channels for targeted sub-groups.

These are a few scenarios where you might need to create Public and Private channels, accordingly. Now we’ll focus on the security threats that come with Public and Private Teams channels.

Security Risks with Public and Private Teams Channels

Both channels have their set of risks that can create serious problems. These risks include:

Risks with Public channels:

• Data exposure: Accidentally sharing confidential data on a Public Teams channel is the most common risk associated with Public channels. Because every employee has access to this channel, accidentally shared data can lead to leak of sensitive data and confidential conversations.
• Searchability of sensitive data: Any user added to the Public channel on Microsoft Teams can search for sensitive data shared on the channel.
• Oversharing on SharePoint site: Since Public channels have the policy of ‘Everyone except external users’, document shared on these channels can be accessed by even non-authorized users.

Risks with Private channels:

• Insider threat: Any malicious member of the Private channels can leak sensitive data, causing chaos and data loss.
• Tricky permission management: Private channels have their own SharePoint sites collections that’s separate from the parent team. This creates separate permission structures leading to confusion mismanagement of data.
• Compliance issues: Multiple private channels can cause issues with DLP compliances or while enforcing data retention or deletion policies.

Additional Expert Insights: Check Privacy Settings of Your Channel

Now that we’ve sufficiently explained the Public vs Private teams’ differences and their risks, let’s get some expert insights on how to check privacy settings of your channel. You can very easily change Visibility setting of your channel in Microsoft Teams. Follow the simple steps below:

• Click on the Channels tab and then click on the three dots besides the Teams channel that you want to change the privacy settings of.
• Choose the Manage channel option and in Settings section, click on Edit.
• Choose Private- Only team owners can add members option and click on Done.

Conclusion

Public vs Private Teams channels allow users to communicate with clients and colleagues easily. Choosing between the two depends upon your requirements and how much accessibility you want to provide to the members. Here in this blog, we’ve talked about the core difference between Microsoft Teams Public vs Private channels and the risks associated with the two. If you ever need to migrate data from one channel to another, using a professional Microsoft Teams migration tool is the best option for you.

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