"No authority" vs "Not authorized"?

I just had a discussion with a college who used the phrase

"No authority"

to inform a user (text display) that he is not authorized [to use the device] after holding a card in front of a device.

My guts tell me this is just wrong, but I wasn't able to point out why. I would have used "Not authorized" or "Unauthorized"?

He argued that "authority" means "Befugnis" in German, so "No authority" would just say "Keine Befugnis".

Whats the better or only option? Any other suggestions?

phrase-choice

Rev1.0

Posted 2013-11-20T14:12:15.470

Reputation: 195

Answers

In this context, I would say the noun form of "authorized" would be "authorization," not "authority." In other words, "No authority" would be better expressed as "No authorization".

The words have multiple meanings, some of which overlap a bit. Generally speaking, though, "authority" means you have the power to do something, while "authorization" means you have permission to do something. One could argue that credentials grant you authorization, but not necessarily authority.

As someone else has already said, there is more than one way to convey this. Another you might consider is:

Insufficient Authorization

J.R.

Posted 2013-11-20T14:12:15.470

Reputation: 108 123

2I'm not sure "insufficient" is a good choice. Generally you're either authorized or you're not. I think if I were designing the system, I'd just go with "Invalid credentials", which helps the user understand the impact of the problem (they are not allowed to log in right now) and what they can do about it (type the correct credentials, or set about obtaining some credentials that work). But +1 for the rest of your answer :) – Matt – 2013-11-20T16:08:35.960

2@Matt - Fair enough, although I do think "insufficient authorization" is sometimes used in multilevel security systems. – J.R. – 2013-11-20T17:35:27.867

"...´authority´ means you have the power to do something, while ´authorization´ means you have permission to do something". That is a good argument to point out the difference. Thanks for your answer. – Rev1.0 – 2013-11-21T07:29:30.747

Not authorized would be the idiomatic way of saying it. "No authority" kind of comes off as the person who scanned their card has no authority at all, when it should really be saying "you are not authorized to use this device." "No Authority" would probably be understood (it is just the same word with a different tense), but "Not Authorized" is what is expected by a native speaker.

My favorite would probably be "Not Authorized", but you could use any of these:

Access Denied
Invalid/Bad Credentials
Not Permitted
Unrecognized User
Invalid User

Sorry, I don't know German, so I cant come up with what would be the best translation for you.

Gray

Posted 2013-11-20T14:12:15.470

Reputation: 610

Thanks for your answer and the examples. Unfortunately I can't accept this as well, it seems as good as the other one. – Rev1.0 – 2013-11-21T07:30:47.267

@Rev1.0 Glad it could help. Just accept the one that helped you the most. Good luck! – Gray – 2013-11-21T18:42:13.970