User can't change sensitive data label

Question

User 1 who was not part of the labeling policy created a file that has PII.

User 2 who is part of the labeling policy opened the file and the file was labeled.

User 1 needs to remove the label, so I added user1 to the labeling policy and user1 now gets the sensitivity tab highlighted and can select label.

User 1 tried to remove the label but it says user1 does not have the permissions.

Looking at active explorer (label applied) it says user2

How can we remove the label? Should user2 go in and do the removal? Would that work?

Answer 1

Hi @Mark Sannuti (C-Admin) ,

I completely understand how frustrating it can be when a sensitivity label can’t be removed, even after adding a user to the policy. Here’s what’s happening:

• The file was labeled by User 2, who is part of the policy.
• Even though User 1 is now in the policy, Microsoft Purview still requires either the original label applier or an admin to remove it.

What you can do:

1. Ask User 2 to remove the label - since they applied it, this is the simplest solution.
2. Admin removal - a Purview admin can remove labels from any file if User 2 isn’t available.
3. Adjust the label policy - if you want newly added users to remove labels applied by others in the future, update the policy permissions accordingly.

In this scenario, having User 2 remove the label should resolve the issue quickly.

Hope this helps! If my answer was helpful - kindly follow the instructions here so others with the same problem can benefit as well.