View Evidence Media permission for roles

Use this information to understand how the View Evidence Media permission affects access to evidence media and how to configure roles for common access patterns.

View Evidence Media controls whether users can view the underlying media for an evidence item, such as videos, images, and audio. It does not grant access to evidence on its own. Users must also have the appropriate evidence access permission, such as View Unrestricted Evidence, View Restricted Evidence, or View Confidential Evidence.

How View Evidence Media affects new and existing roles

Note

May 2026 rollout: Roles that already existed when the View Evidence Media permission was introduced in May 2026 were automatically updated to include View Evidence so users would not lose media access. New roles created after the update do not include View Evidence Media by default.

When you create a new role, View Evidence Media permissions are prohibited by default except for Login Access, so you must explicitly allow View Evidence Media when the role should support normal media review. In most standard role setups, you should enable View Media on new roles to preserve expected behavior such as video playback, audio playback, thumbnails, and image viewing.

When to enable View Evidence Media

Enable View Evidence Media for roles that should be able to review evidence normally, including roles that need to:

  • Play video or audio evidence
  • View images
  • Use media thumbnails and media playback features
  • Perform supervisor or reviewer workflows that require direct media review

Supervisors and other reviewer roles that need full media access should have View Evidence Media enabled.

Configure a standard role

To configure a role for standard evidence access:

  1. Select Admin.
  2. Select User Management, then select Roles and Permissions.
  3. Create a new role, or edit or duplicate an existing role.
  4. Under Evidence Management, allow the appropriate evidence access permission for the role:
    • View Unrestricted Evidence
    • View Restricted Evidence
    • View Confidential Evidence
  1. Select Allowed next to View Evidence Media.
  2. Select Save.

If you create a new role and do not allow View Evidence Media, users may be able to access evidence details but still be blocked from viewing the media itself.

Configure a transcript-only or restricted role

Some organizations want users to work with transcript-based workflows without allowing them to view the underlying media. This can be useful in environments where only designated reviewers should see footage directly.

To restrict media access:

  1. Select Admin.
  2. Select User Management, then select Roles and Permissions.
  3. Under Evidence Management, allow the appropriate evidence access permission for the role:
    • View Unrestricted Evidence
    • View Restricted Evidence
    • View Confidential Evidence
  4. Select Prohibited next to View Evidence Media.
  5. Select Save.

This configuration allows access to evidence metadata and transcript-based workflows without exposing the underlying media.

Additional permissions to review for sensitive environments

If your organization wants to further limit what users can do with evidence when media access is restricted, review these permissions under Evidence Management:

  • Download, which can prevent users from saving local copies of media
  • Share, which can prevent users from sharing evidence outside the organization
  • Start and View Smart Detection, which can prevent access to AI-derived insights from media

Download and View Evidence Media are controlled separately, so it is possible for a user to be blocked from viewing media while still being able to download it if the role is configured that way.

Verify role settings after migration

To confirm whether a role is configured correctly:

  1. Select Admin.
  2. Select User Management, then select Roles and Permissions.
  3. Open the role and review the Evidence Management permissions.
  4. Confirm that the role has both:
    1. The appropriate View permissions
    2. View Evidence Media set correctly for the intended use case

If you need to compare role settings across your organization, export the roles matrix as CSV from the Roles and Permissions page and review the permission settings side by side.

Troubleshooting media access issues

If a user can open evidence details but sees a Restricted Media Access message when trying to view the media, check whether View Evidence Media is enabled for that user’s role.

This issue can occur when:

  • A new role was created without View Evidence Media enabled
  • A role allows evidence access but does not allow media viewing