A reader account is a type of Snowflake account that allows external users to access data shared by a provider account without being a Snowflake customer. A reader account can be created and managed by the provider account, and can use the Snowflake web interface or JDBC/ODBC drivers to query the shared data. A reader account is billed to the provider account based on the credits consumed by the queries1. A secure view is a type of view that applies row-level security filters to the underlying tables, and masks the data that is not accessible to the user. A secure view can be shared with a reader account to provide granular and governed access to the data2. In this scenario, creating a reader account for the partner and sharing the data sets as secure views would be the most cost-effective and secure design, while using the required Snowflake features, because:

It would avoid the data transfer and storage costs of using an S3 bucket as a destination, and the potential security risks of exposing the data to unauthorized access or modification.

It would avoid the complexity and overhead of publishing the data sets on the Snowflake Marketplace, and the potential loss of control over the data ownership and pricing.

It would avoid the need to create a database user for the partner and grant them access to the required data sets, which would require the partner to have a Snowflake account and consume the provider’s resources.

Reader Accounts

Secure Views