The default permissions of a file when it is created depends on the umask (user mask) of the user who is creating the file. The umask is a value that determines the default permissions for newly created files and directories. It is specified in octal notation, and the permissions it specifies are subtracted from the default permissions set by the system.  For example, if the umask is set to 022 (octal), the default permissions for a newly created file will be 644 (rw-r--r--). This means that the owner of the file will have read and write permissions, and others will have read-only permissions.  If the umask is set to 002 (octal), the default permissions for a newly created file will be 664 (rw-rw-r--). This means that the owner and members of the owner's group will have read and write permissions, and others will have read-only permissions.  We can view and change the umask of our user account using the umask command. For example, to set the umask to 022 (octal), we can use the command umask 022.  Keep in mind that the default permissions of a file may also be influenced by the permissions of the directory in which the file is being created, and by any default ACLs (access control lists) that are set on the system.