Introducing Restricted SharePoint Search to help you get started with Copilot for Microsoft 365

Hello.

The Restricted SharePoint Search (RSS) was designed to give companies the ability to limit the output of content in SharePoint sites (except those on the allowed list) from search results until more robust services are activated to address the current issue of oversharing. This issue affects one of our clients, whose users are able to retrieve results and information from documents via Copilot for M365, even when they should not have access to them.

However, according to this Microsoft article https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/restricted-sharepoint-search#why-should-you-use-restricted-sharepoint-search, one of the key notes states:

"Search results are limited to sites on the allowed list, users’ frequently visited sites, sites that users already have permissions to, and users’ recently accessed files. Turning on this feature impacts the overall search experience, even for non-Copilot users."

Based on this, it appears that RSS does not fully achieve its intended goal. If search results still include frequently visited sites, recently accessed files, and sites where users already have permissions, then enabling RSS might not effectively restrict search results as expected.

My interpretation is that while RSS can help limit broad search queries, it does not provide a foolproof method for blocking unauthorized access via search. Users may still retrieve content based on past interactions, potentially making the feature ineffective in fully preventing unintended data exposure.

What is your interpretation? thank you