Product Version: NetBeans IDE Dev (Build 201602170002)
Java: 1.8.0_71; Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 25.71-b15
Runtime: Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 1.8.0_71-b15

Refactoring (change method parameters) applies the selected visibility to subclasses. If an overriding method in a subclass has wider visibility, it is reduced to the one in the parent class.

Example:

public abstract class AbstractResource {

    protected void foo(final Object o) {
    }
}

public class CustomerResource extends AbstractResource {

    @Override
    public void foo(final Object o) {
        super.foo(o);
    }
}

Select "Change method parameters" on AbstractResource.foo(Object). All I wanted to do is remove the parameter. But then the visibility of CustomerResource.foo() is also set to protected and this won’t work in JAX-RS or any other call requiring the subclass method to be public.