RBAC — Role Based Access Control
Definition: An access model where permissions attach to roles, not individuals. Scales cleanly until roles explode — then it needs ruthless pruning or it becomes worse than no model at all.
Example
Collapsing 87 ad-hoc roles into 12 tightly scoped ones cut access tickets by 60% and tightened the audit trail.
When you'll hear it
RBAC shows up most often in engineering planning, architecture reviews, and sprint retrospectives. When someone uses it, they're usually referring to role based access control — and they expect the room to already know what that means.
FAQs
What does RBAC stand for?
RBAC stands for Role Based Access Control.
What does RBAC mean in technology and engineering?
An access model where permissions attach to roles, not individuals. Scales cleanly until roles explode — then it needs ruthless pruning or it becomes worse than no model at all.
Where will I hear RBAC used at work?
RBAC comes up most often in engineering planning, architecture reviews, and sprint retrospectives. It's used as shorthand for role based access control, so people assume you already know the term.
Related terms
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