Most people working in a firm or modern institution have clear cut lines of specialization and authority. The work performed by the marketing department is radically different from the functions found in the finance department, and both are different from those operations that the directors in their role as board members perform.

Despite this specialization, we find that quite often some people may be members of more than one group. The head of marketing may also be a director and board member. An IT specialist who keeps the bookkeeping software running may also be a member of the finance department, and so on. Security in Webflow is based on the idea that that someone's privileges in using the system is based on their membership of various groups within a company and that one person can be a member of more than one group. Security is very important in Webflow as it may contain sensitive or proprietary information that should not fall into the wrong hands.

Unfortunately, it's a fact of human nature that the most secure and therefore the most onerous security systems are simply too obtrusive for regular use. Imagine what would happen if your front door had seven locks instead of the usual one. How many of those locks would be in regular use after the first attempt to get inside out of the rain?

Webflow aims for a level of security that does not become a burden and that also one where its possible to see the consequences of your security decisions. It does this by allowing you to model the groupings that naturally arise in your business within Webflow itself. Taking the example previously mentioned, the documents that marketing has a legitimate need to work with are probably different from those that people in the finance department need. It makes sense to restrict the marketing relevant documents to the marketing group and the finance relevant documents to the finance group. This could be particularly important in a situation where the leaking of financial information or an upcoming marketing campaign could damage the company.

If an individual can sensibly be thought of as a member of two groups, their sphere of influence may be larger. In the example sketched out here a director of marketing who was also a board member my need to see documents that relate to board meetings and documents relating to marketing. The IT specialist who mostly works in the financial department may need to deal with IT related documents and finance related documents. Webflow allows you to reflect this situation by allowing people to be the members of more than one group.