What is considered a best practice for external OWD settings?

Having external OWD (Organization Wide Default) settings set to private is considered a best practice because it ensures that sensitive data is protected and only accessible to those who need to interact with it. When the OWD defaults are set to private, it restricts the visibility of records to the owner and those with whom they explicitly share the records. This is particularly important in external-facing environments where confidential information may be involved.

Setting the OWD to private mitigates the risk of unintended data exposure, allowing organizations to maintain tighter control over their data. It encourages explicit sharing rules where access can be granted on a case-by-case basis, providing flexibility while also ensuring that confidentiality is upheld.

Other options suggest less secure configurations that could potentially risk unauthorized access to sensitive data. For example, having OWD always set to public could lead to data being available to individuals or groups who do not require access. Similarly, while allowing external access based on user roles has its merits, it may inadvertently grant access to individuals who should not have it, especially if roles are not well-defined. Setting OWD to default for all user types disregards the unique access needs of different user groups, which could lead to security vulnerabilities.