In managing projects, there comes a time, where you'll need to keep conversations or comments private between certain groups or roles. on JIRA Software & Core, you can be able to add the restrictive comment to do such by clicking on the padlock icon on a comment field.

Problem

• User is unable to see the Group, in which to restrict a comment even though they are added to the group.
• User is unable to see a specific Group to restrict a comment. 
• User is unable to see a specific Project role to restrict a comment

Resolution

• Check under JIRA Settings > System > General Configuration for "Comment visibility" make sure it's set to "Groups & Project Roles" and not "Project Roles only"
• Ensure that the user exist as a member of the Group, for the group to be visible and selectable for the user to restrict a comment.
• Ensure that the user is also added in the Project role of that Project to see the project roles available to restrict a comment.