Webinar | Session 3: Mastering Copilot Governance Purview for Microsoft 365 + Agents

In our latest Mastering Copilot Governance webinar, we are joining by Principle Solution Engineer, Arlie Hartman, as we shifted focus Purview, where with great power comes the need for strong governance, especially when it comes to sensitive information and regulatory compliance. 

Key Strategies for Securing Copilot and Agents

1. Data Security and Oversharing

• Copilot honors existing permissions. It only retrieves data users are allowed to access—no global admin shortcuts. 
• Oversharing happens when users have access to more data than they need. Use Purview to identify and remediate risky access. 
• SharePoint Advanced Management helps restrict Copilot and agent access to sensitive sites. 

2. Sensitivity Labels: Adherence and Inheritance

• Sensitivity labels tag documents and containers, controlling access and marking content. 
• Copilot adheres to label access controls—if you don’t have access, Copilot won’t retrieve it.
• Generated content inherits the most sensitive label from its sources. If you blend files, Copilot applies the highest sensitivity label.

3. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Insider Risk

• DLP policies can block Copilot from processing files with specific sensitivity labels. Example: Prevent Copilot from summarizing “Project Falcon” documents. 
• Insider risk management tools monitor for risky AI use, prompt injections, and data exfiltration attempts.
• Use adaptive protection to dynamically restrict access based on user risk profiles.

4. Compliance and Audit

• Purview Compliance Manager tracks progress against regulatory frameworks (GDPR, HIPAA, NIST, EU AI Act, etc.). 
• Audit logs record Copilot interactions—what was accessed, when, and by whom.
• eDiscovery lets you search and export Copilot interactions for investigations or legal holds. 

Lessons Learned

• Custom sensitivity label templates are essential. Out-of-box templates may not match your organization’s terminology—work with business units to define classifiers and labels. 
• Start with audit-only mode for new policies to catch false positives before enforcing actions.
• Information protection is a team sport—engage stakeholders across departments.

Licensing Differences: E3 vs. E5

• E5 unlocks advanced features like DSPM for AI, detailed activity explorer, and auto-labeling.
• E3 users get basic DLP and audit capabilities but must apply labels manually. 
• Microsoft offers Copilot readiness guides for both E3 and E5—use them to plan your rollout.

Next Steps

• Review your current sensitivity labels and DLP policies.
• Run oversharing assessments in Purview.
• Engage with your infrastructure and business teams to align on terminology and classifiers.
• Explore Compliance Manager to track regulatory progress.
• M365 Copilot Blueprint for Oversharing