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Data minimization policies in privacy risk management

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Data minimization policies focus on the age of your content and how long it has been since it was last modified. Monitoring for personal data that's still being retained in older, unused content can help you better manage your stored data and reduce risks.

Microsoft Priva Privacy Risk Management allows you to create policies to monitor data that hasn't been modified within a timeframe that you select. When a policy match is detected, you can send users email notifications with remediation options to delete or keep the content item (see details at step 10 of the policy creation process).

Our policy setup process makes it easy to set policy conditions. You have full control over alert timing and frequency of emails that bring users' attention to safe data handling practices.

There are two ways you can create a policy: from a template, which is our quick "out-of-box" option using default settings; or the custom option, which is a guided process for setting conditions, alerts, and notifications.

Quick setup: Use a template with default settings

The default data minimization policy detects content containing personal data that was created or modified at least 30 days ago.

Follow these steps to create a default data transfer policy:

  1. Sign in to one of the following portals using credentials for an admin account in your Microsoft 365 organization:

  2. Go to the privacy risk management solution and select the Policies page.

  3. Select Create a policy.

  4. In the Data minimization box, select Create.

  5. A flyout pane contains policy details. Selecting View settings displays the default settings. You can edit settings from here, which takes you into the guided process outlined below. To continue creating your policy using the default settings, enter a descriptive name, then select Create policy.

Your policy is created and listed on your Polices page. It begins in test mode so you can monitor how it performs before turning it on.

Default data minimization policy settings

A data minimization policy created from the template detects:

  • Content items containing personal data that hasn't been modified in at least the last 30 days.
  • Data that is stored in any of these locations within your organization: Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams.
  • Data types based on the following classification groups:
    • EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
    • US personally identifiable information
    • US Patriot Act
    • US State Breach Notification Law
    • US Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
    • US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
    • Australia Health Records Act (HRIP)
    • Australia Privacy Act
    • Japan personally identifiable information
    • Japan Protection of Personal Information

Custom setup: Guided policy creation process

The custom policy option is a guided process to create a new policy by setting conditions, designating alert severity and frequency, and turning on user email notifications.

Complete the steps below to create a new data transfer policy:

  1. Sign in to one of the following portals using credentials for an admin account in your Microsoft 365 organization:

  2. Go to the privacy risk management solution and select the Policies page.

  3. Select Create a policy.

  4. In the Custom box, select Create.

  5. On the Name and type page, select the Data minimization policy template. Enter a policy name that will help you easily identify it from your list on the Policies page, and enter an optional description, then select Next.

  6. On the Data sources page, select all the data sources in Microsoft 365 that you want the policy to cover. Choose from Exchange email accounts, OneDrive accounts, Teams chat and channel messages, and SharePoint sites.

    Within SharePoint you can designate all sites or specific sites. If you select Specific SharePoint sites, you can enter the site URL in the URL field. You can also select + Choose sites, then on the flyout pane, check the box to the left of the site name you want to select.

    Learn more about choosing data sources. When you're done, select Next.

  7. On the Data to monitor page, choose the type of personal data you want your policy to monitor. There are two options:

    • Classification groups: groupings of sensitive information types that are used to detect content related to personal data or specific regulations. If you select this option, you'll then need to select +Add classification groups to choose one or more groups from the list provided.
    • Individual sensitive information types: select this option to choose from a list of individual sensitive information types.

    Learn more about choosing data to monitor. When you're done selecting data to monitor, select Next.

  8. On the Users and groups page, choose which users in your organization the policy will apply to. You can select all individual users and all Office 365 distribution groups, or you can select specific users and groups. Learn more about choosing users and groups. When you're done, select Next.

  9. On the Conditions page, use the drop-down menu to choose how many days since an item was last modified that the policy will detect:

    • 30 days
    • 60 days
    • 90 days
    • 120 days

    For example, if you select 30 days, the policy will detect when it has been 30 days since a content item was last modified. The date when the item was originally created doesn't factor into the policy condition; only the last modification date. If you select the 30 day condition, the policy won't detect a match unless the content reaches 30 days while the policy is active.

    When you're done, select Next.

  10. On the Outcomes page, select the Send a notification email to users when a policy match occurs checkbox if you want to notify users when policy conditions are met. When the box is checked, you can preview and edit the email, then set the frequency and provide a link to privacy training. The remediation options in the emails are to Trash or Keep the items. Learn more about setting up and editing user notifications. When you're done defining outcomes, select Next.

  11. On the Alerts page, use the toggle switch to turn on alerts that an admin will see on the Alerts page in the Policies section of Privacy Risk Management. You designate how frequently alerts are generated, thresholds for matches before alerts are generated, and alert severity. Learn more about setting alerts for policy matches. When you're done, select Next.

  12. On the Mode page, choose which mode to put the policy in: Test it out first or Turn it on right away. In test mode, no alerts or notifications are sent. Learn more about recommendations and what to analyze when testing a policy. When you're done, select Next.

  13. On the Finish page, review your choices. Select Edit underneath any of the sections in order to adjust settings. When you're satisfied with your policy's settings, select Submit to create the policy.

After a few seconds, you'll see a confirmation that the policy was created. Select Done on the confirmation page, which will take you to the Policies page where you see the new policy at the top of the table.

Next steps

Visit Privacy Risk Management polices for details about how to edit and manage policies.

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