Shadow IT can pop up anytime employees sign up for apps without letting the IT team know. AccessOwl shines a light on these hidden tools so you can decide how to handle them—without reading personal emails or intruding on privacy.

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How AccessOwl Finds Hidden Apps

AccessOwl checks OAuth grants of users to applications. In addition to that, it reviews the last six months of Google Workspace SSO logs for activity data. Whenever someone used “Sign in with Google,” AccessOwl flags that app as potentially untracked.

If an app doesn’t support Google SSO, it won’t appear in this scan.

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What Happens When Apps Are Found

We send a Slack message to Org Admins or centrally set Org Admin Slack notification channel.

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Approve or Ignore

Once AccessOwl discovers an app:
  • Approve it if you want to officially manage it. This lets people request the app or automates onboarding/offboarding.
  • Ignore it if it’s a personal or irrelevant tool (e.g., someone’s side-project account).

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Personal or Irrelevant Apps

Not everything your team signs up for needs central management. Ignored apps stay visible in AccessOwl’s records but won’t alert you again.

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Taking Action on Discovered Apps

If you find a large “free tier” group (like Fireflies or any other service) with many employees:
  1. Decide if you want to keep them as free users, upgrade them to a paid plan, or remove them entirely.
  2. Use AccessOwl to track which users belong there, so you can handle offboarding if someone leaves.
If you don’t want employees repeatedly joining these free tools, you might consider disabling sign-ups (if the tool offers that setting) or having a policy conversation internally.

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Finding User Roles & Permissions

By default, discovery only confirms that users have accounts, not their exact role (admin, viewer, etc.). For more detail:
  • Direct Integrations: Connect AccessOwl directly to apps like Slack or Jira for real-time user lists and permission levels.
  • Manual Upload: Use our Google Sheets template to import user data if an app doesn’t have an API or easy export.

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Next Steps

  1. Run Application Discovery
    Check your Google Workspace SSO logs to uncover hidden tools.
  2. Enable Email Checks
    For non-Google SSO apps, let AccessOwl detect invitation emails.
  3. Approve or Ignore
    Decide whether to manage or dismiss each discovered tool.
  4. Sync Deeper Permissions
    If you need role-level visibility, set up direct integrations or import user lists.
  5. Stay Proactive
    Periodically review newly discovered apps to keep your environment safe and uncluttered.