Aspects of the present disclosure include a system comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program and a method for managing access permissions associated with data resources. Example embodiments involve evaluating user access permissions with respect to shared data resources of a group of network applications. The method includes receiving a request, from one of the network applications, to access a particular data resource. The request includes an identifier of a requesting user. The method further includes accessing a policy object associated with the data resource that includes policy information specifying operations the user is authorized to perform with respect to the data resource based on satisfaction of one or more conditions. The method further includes evaluating the user's access permissions with respect to the data resource based on the policy object, and communicating a response to the network application that includes the access permission of the user.