I suspect that (since I didn't get any response on my previous request for
assistance) I may need to approach this in stages ...

Assuming that Information Rights Management (IRM) won't give me the detailed
permissions I need, basically, here's what I need:

1. A Macro that will unprotect a series of Workbooks (approximately 200 of
them) so that the Auto Update function in Linked Data can update without
user intervention.

2. I copied this Macro from a previous post -- how can I modify the
following code to achieve what I need from it:

Can I use something like this?
I assume that I'll need something like this to unprotect the affected
worksheets:
ActiveSheet.Unprotect Password:="" '<===I assume that I'll enter
my worksheet password between the ""

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Dim vLinkSources
Dim iLinkSource As Integer
vLinkSources = ThisWorkbook.LinkSources(xlExcelLinks)
If Not IsEmpty(vLinkSources) Then
For iLinkSource = LBound(vLinkSources) To UBound(vLinkSources)
ThisWorkbook.UpdateLink vLinkSources(iLinkSource), xlExcelLinks
Next
End If
End Sub

I'll need to re-protect the affected worksheets upon closing:
ActiveSheet.Protect Password:="" '<===I assume that I'll enter my
worksheet password between the ""
End Sub

Any help in setting me straight on this would be greately appreciated --
thanks in advance.