Is Microsoft Copilot Safe for My Business?

Quick answer: Copilot for Microsoft 365 has strong enterprise data protection—your data doesn't train Microsoft's models. But Copilot will surface whatever data users can already access, so poor permissions become a bigger problem. Security depends on configuration, not just the tool.

What Microsoft Promises

Your data stays yours:

• Prompts and responses aren't used to train foundation models
• Data stays within your Microsoft 365 tenant boundary
• Enterprise data protection commitments apply

Compliance inheritance:

• Copilot respects your existing sensitivity labels
• DLP policies apply to Copilot interactions
• Audit logs capture Copilot usage
• Same compliance certifications as M365

Access control:

• Copilot only accesses data the user already has permission to see
• No elevation of privilege
• Respects SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams permissions

The Real Security Concerns

1. Oversharing becomes obvious

Copilot surfaces information users can access. If your permissions are loose:

• That HR folder everyone can technically read? Copilot will quote it
• Old project files never cleaned up? Copilot finds them
• Sensitive documents in broadly-shared Teams? Fair game

Copilot doesn't create access problems—it exposes existing ones.

2. Data preparation matters

Before Copilot:

• Audit who can access what
• Clean up stale permissions
• Apply sensitivity labels to sensitive content
• Review SharePoint site permissions
• Implement proper information architecture

Rolling out Copilot without this prep is risky.

3. User behaviour changes

People will ask Copilot things they'd never search for:

• "What's the salary range for my role?"
• "What did [colleague] say about [project]?"
• "Find all documents mentioning [sensitive topic]"

Training on appropriate use matters.

4. Shadow Copilot

Free Copilot (Bing Chat, Edge sidebar) doesn't have the same enterprise protections. Users might use the wrong Copilot for work tasks. Know which Copilots your organisation uses.

Copilot vs Public AI

Copilot for M365 is significantly safer than employees using public ChatGPT.

Before You Roll Out

Technical preparation:

• [ ] Audit SharePoint and OneDrive permissions
• [ ] Implement sensitivity labels
• [ ] Configure DLP policies
• [ ] Review Teams and Groups membership
• [ ] Enable Copilot audit logging
• [ ] Plan pilot group carefully

Governance preparation:

• [ ] Update acceptable use policy for AI
• [ ] Define what data shouldn't be queried
• [ ] Create usage guidelines
• [ ] Plan user training
• [ ] Establish monitoring approach

Licensing:

• Copilot for M365 requires Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, or E5
• Additional per-user Copilot licence (~£24/user/month)
• Not cheap—plan who actually needs it

Our Approach

We help organisations deploy Copilot securely:

Pre-deployment assessment:

• Permission audit and remediation
• Sensitivity labelling strategy
• DLP policy configuration
• Readiness scoring

Deployment:

• Phased rollout
• Security configuration
• Monitoring setup
• User training

Ongoing:

• Usage monitoring
• Permission maintenance
• Policy updates

Copilot can be transformative, but only if deployed properly.

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