– The command center for your data protection
Data is the new gold – and it’s everywhere: in Teams chats, emails, SharePoint lists, and on local devices. The challenge for administrators is no longer just to secure access (that’s what Entra ID does), but to protect the data itself , no matter where it goes.
That’s where Microsoft Purview comes in!
Purview is not a single app, but a comprehensive platform for data governance, risk management , and compliance. In this guide, we’ll focus on the actionable tools you can use to classify, protect, and manage your company data.
Microsoft Purview product page and Microsoft Purview documentation
1. Information Protection
Before you can protect data, you need to know what it is. Is it the canteen’s menu or the patent application for 2026?
At the heart of Information Protection are the Sensitivity Labels. They act as a digital stamp that sticks to the document and enforces encryption and access rights – even if the file leaves the company.
Basics & Architecture
How do you build a label concept that users understand? Which encryption settings are useful? This article will walk you through the strategy and manual setup.
Automation (auto-labeling)
Don’t rely on your users/employees. Learn how Purview automatically detects content and sets the appropriate protection label without the employee having to lift a finger.
2. Data Loss Prevention
Protection against accidental “sending”.
Classification is the first step, prevention the second. With Data Loss Prevention (DLP), you can create policies that sound the alarm or set up blocks when sensitive data (based on your labels!) tries to leave the security zone – whether it’s via email, Teams chat, or upload to a USB stick.
👉 Microsoft Purview | DLP – Effectively secure Copilot Prompts (SITs)!
3. Data Lifecycle Management
Not everything has to be stored for eternity.
Data protection also means data economy. Retention policies help you control the lifecycle of your data. You will ensure that legal retention periods (e.g. 10 years for invoices) are adhered to and that trivial data (old chats) are automatically deleted to minimise the risk of liability.
👉 Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: Data Lifecycle Management
eDiscovery & Content Search
Finding is good, preservation of evidence is better.
If the legal department comes knocking or a GDPR information is due, you need to be able to search across all services. But be careful: There is a crucial difference between operational search and legally compliant storage.
- eDiscovery: The process for real legal cases. With Legal Hold , you “freeze” data so that it remains stored in the background – even if the user deletes it.
- Content Search: Your tool for ad-hoc requests (e.g., “Does User X still have the file?”). Fast, but without protection against deletion.
Get to know the difference and the professional search language (KQL) in our detailed article:
👉 Microsoft Purview | eDiscovery & Content Search
Purview Feature Overview
| Solution / Feature | Abbreviation | Description |
| Data Loss PreventionDLP | Protects sensitive content (cloud, on-premises, endpoints) from accidental disclosure. | |
| Information Protection | MIP | Discover, classify and protect confidential data (Labels & Encryption). |
| Insider Risk Management | IRM | Detects risky internal user activity and helps mitigate threats. |
| Data security status | DSPM | Analyzes the security posture, makes recommendations, and identifies risks. |
| Data Security Investigations | DSI | AI-Powered Analysis and Risk Mitigation in Security Incidents (Preview). |
| DSPM for AI (AI Hub) | AI-DSPM | Backup AI data and activities in Copilot and other AI apps. |
| Data Lifecycle Management | DLM | Control of the lifecycle (retention & deletion) for the entire tenant (watering can). |
| Records ManagementRM | Management of legally compliant retention plans and immutable records (scalpel). | |
| Communication Compliance | CC | Monitors communications for inappropriate messages or policy violations. |
| eDiscovery | eDisc | Identify, hold and export data for legal cases. |
| Compliance Manager | CM | Dashboard for assessing compliance with standards (ISO, GDPR) including recommendations for action. |
| Information BarriersIB | Prevents communication between certain groups (conflicts of interest). | |
| Data Map | Map | Technical Base: Manages data sources and populates the metadata repository. |
| Unified catalog (Data Catalog) | Catalog | Searchable inventory of data assets and metadata for the organization. |
| Data Policy | Policy Central location for data access and SQL DevOps policies. | |
| Monitor (Audit) | Audit | The central log for user and admin activities (Unified Audit Log). |
| Compliance Alerts | Alerts | Centralized view of all generated alerts from the policies. |
| Workflows | Flow | Automation of repeatable processes for data entities. |
Conclusion: Data protection is a process
Microsoft Purview is powerful, but it can quickly become overwhelming. Our recommendation: Start with Information Protection. Define your labels (see Guide 1) and start classifying. Only when you know where your critical data is stored can DLP and lifecycle rules take effect.
Be the first to comment