Using and sharing secrets

DECember 2023 We have released an improved version with enhanced security of Security and Encryption for Confluence Cloud. Check out the next steps for administrators.

Overview

The Secret macro secures the creation, transmission, storage and retrieval of sensitive information while you collaborate with your team members on Confluence.

When you work with a Secret macro, the encryption and decryption process is done locally on your web browser, making the whole process of handling sensitive information extra secure.

Requirements

To access encrypted information from the secret macro, you must meet the following conditions:

access to the space where the Secret macro belongs to
you are the secret owner
you are one of the users that has permission in the macro

To gain access to a secret

with only group owners, you need to be a part of the Confluence group. Contact the administrator to be a member of the Confluence group
with an individual user owner, contact the user owner to get access

Accessing a secret

On the Secret macro block

choose the Decrypt button

If you don't have sufficient permission, the following error message is displayed.

If you have permission, the macro block is displayed expanded with the successfully decrypted information masked in asterisks.

choose Copy
- to copy the sensitive information into your computer clipboard and paste it elsewhere
choose Reveal
- to see the decrypted information

choose the X button in the macro to hide the sensitive information

If the X is not chosen, the secret is hidden automatically after 15 seconds.

Sharing a secret

Sharing a secret doesn't automatically grant your team members access to the secret macro. You need to edit the macro access control settings to set appropriat access permission.

There are two options to share a secret with your team members

1 Option 1 - Share the Confluence page
2 Option 2 - Share a direct link to a Secret

Option 1 - Share the Confluence page

On the page containing the secret macro

select the Share button
enter name, group, team or email of the team members

choose Send to send an email notification from Confluence

Alternatively, copy the URL of the page from the web browser address bar and share this link with your team members.

Option 2 - Share a direct link to a Secret

In the Confluence left hand side menu

choose Secret List

choose the title of the secret you would like to share

A page is displayed containing details of the Secret.

choose Copy link to copy the link to your computer clipboard
share the link as required with your team members