# User profiles[¶](https://doc.dataiku.com/dss/latest/security/user-profiles.html#user-profiles "Permalink to this headline")

Each user in DSS has a single “user profile” assigned to it.

Note

User profile is not a security feature, but a licensing-related concept. DSS licenses are restricted in number of each profile.

We do not provide any guarantee that the user profile is strictly applied. For real security, use the regular groups authorization model described in this document.

Depending on your Dataiku license, various user profiles may be available.

Note

The exact definition of user profiles that are available depends on your DSS license. In case of any doubt, please contact your Dataiku Customer Success Manager.

Not all of the profiles described below will be available.

The possible profiles are usually:

* **Reader**: They can read the content of a project but cannot perform any kind of modification.

* **Explorer**: They can read the content of a project. They can also create their own dashboards and insights, but only based on datasets/models/… that designers have previously made available for dashboarding.

* **Data Analyst**: They can create datasets, perform visualizations, use all visual processing recipes, and more generally perform most of the actions in the DSS interface. Data analysts cannot use code-based recipes (Python, R, …), code-based notebooks nor the machine learning components of DSS. They can use SQL

* **Data Scientist**: They can do anything.

* **Designer**: Like Data Scientist

The user’s profile is applied globally, in addition to the per-project restrictions.
