Microsoft Graph Delegated vs Application Permissions: Difference and Comparison

Microsoft Graph Delegated is well-known for the development of apps that depend on the Microsoft Graph API.

Microsoft Application Permissions is a security mechanism that ensures all system apps are secured.

Microsoft Graph Delegated and Application Permissions are bewildering and exceptionally similar, yet they are different.

Key Takeaways

1. Delegated permissions grant apps access to data on behalf of signed-in users.
2. Application permissions allow apps to access data without a user context.
3. Apps use OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow to implement delegated permissions.

Microsoft Graph Delegated vs Application Permissions

The difference between Microsoft Graph Delegated and Application Permissions is that the Microsoft Graph Delegated Authorization is an authorization method that implements the delegated access control pattern by delegating consent to Microsoft for delegation through Active Directory, whereas the Application Permissions model requires that developers define each user’s permissions individually on the app, rather than at the server level.

Microsoft Graph Delegated Authorization was introduced with Windows Server and uses OAuth 2.0 for authorization of client authentication with an application registered in Azure Active Directory.

Microsoft Graph Delegated enables us to take advantage of the power of the cloud to power the business.

Microsoft Application Permissions is an important feature within Windows, as it is responsible for checking whether users have granted apps access to their files, contacts, location, and photos.

Moreover, it was created with the intent to work alongside both enterprise applications and personal applications.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Microsoft Graph Delegated	Microsoft Application Permissions
Definition	Microsoft Graph Delegated is a unified API for interacting with data in the Microsoft cloud.	Microsoft Application Permissions is a security mechanism that makes sure all apps on the system are secured.
Goal	Its goal is to store a single source of original data and that can be consistently accessible.	Its goal is to act as a security mechanism that makes sure all apps on your system are secured.
Work	Microsoft Graph Delegated enables to take advantage of the power of the cloud to power business.	Microsoft Application Permissions work alongside enterprise applications and personal applications.
Security	It cannot read and access certain sensitive information, such as contacts and photos.	It can read and access certain sensitive information, such as contacts and photos.
Malware Spotting	It does not spot malware and other security threats.	It protects the users from malware and other security threats.

What is Microsoft Graph Delegated?

The Microsoft Graph Delegated Authorization is an authorization method that implements the delegated access control pattern by delegating consent to Microsoft for delegation through Active Directory.

This is set up in one of two ways: using a Windows Server domain Group Policy or PowerShell.

Microsoft Graph Delegated Authorization is also well-known as Dynamic Access with the Microsoft Graph API.

When using Microsoft Graph Delegated Application Permissions, developers must explicitly grant permission to the application itself rather than to a security group or directory role.

It provides a common set of graph services that allow interaction with data in an organization, including Office 365 services such as Mail, Planner, Teams, Skype for Business, and Yammer.

Microsoft Graph enables us to take advantage of the power of the cloud to power the business. Anyone can create tools that interact with this API.

For example, in a company that runs a large number of SQL servers in the cloud, the administrators may want to use a CSV file created in Excel in their tool or have one tool for both environments.

As a result, it is important to have a single source of authentic data that is consistently accessible. That is where Delegated administration with the Azure AD application takes place.

What is Microsoft Application Permissions?

Microsoft Application Permissions is the name of the Windows system responsible for checking whether users have granted apps access to their files, contacts, location, and photos.

It was created with the intent to work alongside both enterprise applications and personal applications. Its goal is to act as a security mechanism that ensures all system apps are secured.

Microsoft Application Permissions would provide security to ensure only certain apps were able to access these contacts.

This would mean that third-party apps accessing the user’s information would be blocked, therefore securing the user’s information.

When a user installs an application, it needs to be granted access to certain sensitive information, such as contacts and photos.

However, without access, the Microsoft Application Permissions cannot store or read that information.

Microsoft Application Permissions has an important function that has been added to Windows, as it protects users from malware and other security threats.

If the user’s Windows system has been compromised with malware, it may be able to access personal information stored within apps.

Therefore, Microsoft Application Permissions provides security to ensure only certain apps can access sensitive information stored on the device.

Main Differences Between Microsoft Graph Delegated and Application Permissions

1. Microsoft Graph Delegated is a unified API for interacting with data in the Microsoft cloud, whereas Microsoft Application Permissions is a security mechanism that makes sure all apps on the system are secured.
2. Microsoft Graph Delegated’s goal is to store a single source of original data and that can be consistently accessible, whereas Microsoft Application Permissions’ goal is to act as a security mechanism that makes sure all apps on your system are secured.
3. Microsoft Graph Delegated enables to take advantage of the power of the cloud to power business, whereas Microsoft Application Permissions work alongside enterprise applications and personal applications.
4. Microsoft Graph Delegated cannot read and access certain sensitive information, such as contacts and photos, whereas Microsoft Application Permissions can read and access certain sensitive information, such as contacts and photos.
5. Microsoft Graph Delegated does not spot malware and other security threats, whereas Microsoft Application Permissions protects users from malware and other security threats.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-6364-8_17
2. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-6476-8_8
3. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-5845-3_9

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023