diff --git a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
index 253f1ec1..b0fd4057 100644
--- a/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/topics_controller.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class TopicsController < ApplicationController
 
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html do
-        @alltopics = [@topic].concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives1(@topic.id)).to_a).concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives2(@topic.id)).to_a)
+        @alltopics = [@topic].concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives1(@topic.id, current_user)).to_a).concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives2(@topic.id, current_user)).to_a)
         @allsynapses = policy_scope(Synapse.for_topic(@topic.id)).to_a
         puts @alltopics.length
         puts @allsynapses.length
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class TopicsController < ApplicationController
     @topic = Topic.find(params[:id])
     authorize @topic
 
-    @alltopics = [@topic].concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives1(@topic.id)).to_a).concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives2(@topic.id)).to_a)
+    @alltopics = [@topic].concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives1(@topic.id, current_user)).to_a).concat(policy_scope(Topic.relatives2(@topic.id, current_user)).to_a)
     @allsynapses = policy_scope(Synapse.for_topic(@topic.id))
 
     @allcreators = @alltopics.map(&:user).uniq
diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index 4ff6ac50..4cb58f65 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -42,16 +42,34 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
     topics1 + topics2
   end
 
-  scope :relatives1, ->(topic_id = nil) {
-    includes(:topics1)
-      .where('synapses.node1_id = ?', topic_id)
-      .references(:synapses)
+  scope :relatives1, ->(topic_id = nil, user = nil) {
+     visible = %w(public commons)
+     permission = 'synapses.permission IN (?)'
+     if user
+       synapse_permission = permission + ' OR synapses.defer_to_map_id IN (?) OR synapses.user_id = ?' 
+       return includes(:topics1)
+         .where('synapses.node1_id = ? AND (' + synapse_permission + ')', topic_id, visible, user.shared_maps.map(&:id), user.id)
+         .references(:synapses)
+     else
+       return includes(:topics1)
+         .where('synapses.node1_id = ? AND (' + permission + ')', topic_id, visible)
+         .references(:synapses)
+     end
   }
 
-  scope :relatives2, ->(topic_id = nil) {
-    includes(:topics2)
-      .where('synapses.node2_id = ?', topic_id)
-      .references(:synapses)
+  scope :relatives2, ->(topic_id = nil, user = nil) {
+     visible = %w(public commons)
+     permission = 'synapses.permission IN (?)'
+     if user
+       synapse_permission = permission + ' OR synapses.defer_to_map_id IN (?) OR synapses.user_id = ?' 
+       return includes(:topics2)
+         .where('synapses.node2_id = ? AND (' + synapse_permission + ')', topic_id, visible, user.shared_maps.map(&:id), user.id)
+         .references(:synapses)
+     else
+       return includes(:topics2)
+         .where('synapses.node2_id = ? AND (' + permission + ')', topic_id, visible)
+         .references(:synapses)
+     end
   }
 
   delegate :name, to: :user, prefix: true