A differentially private system receives a request from a client to perform a query on data stored in a database. The differentially private system establishes a set of permissions of the client with respect to the data in the database. The differentially private system deconstructs the query into query components. The query components include at least one relation that identifies a dataset in the database and at least one expressions specifying an operation to be performed in the identified dataset. The differentially private system identifies permissions necessary to perform the specified operation on the identified dataset. The differentially private system determines whether the established permissions grants of the client include the identified permissions necessary to perform the specified operation on the identified dataset. The differentially private system selectively executes the query responsive to the determination.