diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller.rb
index 9fa8194a2..5137b84b1 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller.rb
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ class Api::V1::UserGroupsController < Api::ApiController
 
   alias_method :user_group, :controlled_resource
 
-  allowed_params :create, :name, :display_name, :stats_visibility, links: [users: []]
-  allowed_params :update, :name, :stats_visibility, :display_name
+  allowed_params :create, :name, :display_name, :private, :stats_visibility, links: [users: []]
+  allowed_params :update, :name, :private, :stats_visibility, :display_name
 
   search_by do |name, query|
     search_names = name.join(' ').downcase
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller_spec.rb
index 92d50cdfb..9883578ab 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/v1/user_groups_controller_spec.rb
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@
     let(:update_params) do
       {
         user_groups: {
-          display_name: 'A-Different-Name'
+          display_name: 'A-Different-Name',
+          private: false
         }
       }
     end
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@
   describe '#create' do
     let(:test_attr) { :name }
     let(:test_attr_value) { 'Zooniverse' }
-    let(:create_params) { { user_groups: { name: 'Zooniverse' } } }
+    let(:create_params) { { user_groups: { name: 'Zooniverse', private: false } } }
 
     it_behaves_like 'is creatable'