Restricting Internal Comments in Jira Service Management

Friday, February 21, 2025
by Palak Chauhan

Best Practices for Restricting Internal Comments in Jira Service Management

Maintaining confidentiality in Jira Service Management is essential for sensitive discussions. With Internal Comment Restrictions, you can control visibility based on project roles and groups, ensuring secure collaboration.

Why Restrict Internal Comments?

Internal comments help teams collaborate on customer requests, but some discussions may contain confidential information (e.g., legal, HR, or security-related details). By restricting visibility, you can:

  • Keep sensitive discussions private.

  • Reduce unnecessary exposure of critical data.

  • Ensure only authorized team members have access to key details.

Best Practices for Using Internal Comment Restrictions

  1. Default to Open Collaboration – Only restrict comments when necessary to avoid information silos.

  2. Use Group-Based Restrictions – Leverage predefined groups such as 'az-IST-jsm-admin' for admins or 'az-IST-jsm-staff' for specific teams to ensure clear and structured access control.

  3. Limit Overuse of Restrictions – Over-restricting comments can hinder transparency and teamwork.

  4. Educate Your Team – Ensure all team members understand when and how to apply restrictions appropriately.

  5. Regularly Review Restrictions – Audit comment visibility settings periodically to maintain efficiency and security.

How to Apply Internal Comment Restrictions

  1. Open an issue in your service project.

  2. Navigate to the comment section and start creating an internal note.

  3. Click on the Comment visibility button (represented by an open lock icon 🔓).

  4. By default, internal comments are visible to all internal users of the project.

  5. To restrict visibility, select a specific project role or group from the menu.

  6. Save your comment— now, only the selected users can see it!

Here is a video tutorial on: How to restrict Internal Comments in JSM.mp4

🔒 Once saved, only the comment creator and the selected group or role members will have access to the comment, keeping your confidential discussions secure.

Admin Best Practices for Comment Restrictions

Jira admins should enforce clear policies to ensure effective use of comment restrictions. Here’s how:

  1. Set Organization-Wide Policies – Define when restrictions should be used and educate teams accordingly.

  2. Use Group/Role-Based Restrictions - For specific teams to ensure clear and structured access control.

  3. Enable Proper Configuration – Ensure your settings align with security and compliance requirements.

  4. Audit Regularly – Periodically review who has access to restricted comments to prevent permission bloat.

Final Thoughts

By following these best practices, teams can ensure secure, efficient, and effective collaboration within Jira Service Management. Restrict internal comments only when necessary, educate your team, and audit regularly to maintain optimal transparency and security.

Adopt these best practices today and keep your conversations secure! 🔐🚀