Role-Based Access Control
Granular user permission modeling, role hierarchy structures, and security policy enforcement across API endpoints.
1 / Permission Modeling
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) provided granular authorization across my applications. In Trajectory, different user types — candidates and recruiters — had different permissions for viewing, creating, and managing application pipeline data. In StudyLink, students and instructors had different access levels to course materials and administrative functions.
2 / Enforcement Layers
RBAC enforcement happened at multiple layers: API endpoint guards through Spring Security method-level annotations, middleware filters in Django, and query-level scoping to ensure database queries only returned data the authenticated user was authorized to see. The most important enforcement point was the data layer — endpoint guards alone are insufficient if the underlying queries can return cross-tenant data.
3 / Design Consideration
Role hierarchy structures — where an admin role inherits all permissions of a standard user role — simplified permission management but required careful implementation to prevent privilege escalation. The principle I followed: roles grant explicit permissions, and the absence of a permission is a denial by default.