Privacy Awareness and Limitations

Overview

When you use Copilot, it reaches into your emails, files, chats, and meeting transcripts to find relevant content. But what exactly can it see? What should you keep away from it? And where does it fall short? Government professionals need clear answers to these questions – not vague reassurances. Understanding Copilot’s privacy model and its current limitations helps you use it confidently and avoid mistakes.

This video covers how Copilot’s data access works, what you should never share with it, the limitations you need to know about today, and how to stay current as the product evolves.

What You’ll Learn

• Permissions Model: How Copilot accesses data based on your existing permissions
• Data Boundaries: What information should never be shared with Copilot
• Current Limitations: Where Copilot falls short and what to watch for
• Staying Current: How to keep up with changes and new capabilities

Script

Hook: What can Copilot actually see?

You ask Copilot to summarize last quarter’s budget review. A few seconds later, it pulls together key points from emails, a SharePoint document, and a Teams meeting transcript. It’s fast and it’s useful. But it raises a fair question: what exactly can Copilot see? What can’t it see? And what should you never ask it to process?

These aren’t abstract concerns. In government environments, data privacy and security aren’t nice-to-haves – they’re requirements. Let’s clear up the privacy picture and talk about where Copilot’s limits are today.

What Copilot can see based on your permissions

Copilot accesses your organizational data through Microsoft Graph. The critical principle is simple: Copilot sees what you see. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you can open a document in SharePoint, Copilot can read it. If you can view an email in Outlook, Copilot can summarize it. But if a file sits in a SharePoint site you don’t have access to, Copilot cannot reach it either. Your existing access controls define exactly what Copilot can work with.

In GCC, GCC High, and DoD tenants, your data stays within your tenant’s security boundary. Copilot does not access data from other tenants. Your prompts and responses are not used to train the foundation model. Your data stays yours.

One thing to be aware of: if permissions in your organization are overly broad, Copilot can surface content in unexpected ways. This isn’t a Copilot problem – it’s a permissions issue that Copilot makes more visible.

Data that shouldn’t be shared with Copilot

Even with strong privacy protections, there are categories of data that should never be entered into Copilot prompts.

First and most important: classified information. Microsoft 365 Copilot operates in unclassified environments. Do not paste, type, or reference classified content in your prompts. If your environment is rated at a specific impact level – IL2, IL4, or IL5 – do not input data above that level.

Be cautious with sensitive personally identifiable information. Think carefully before asking Copilot to work with Social Security numbers, medical records, or sensitive financial data. Ask yourself whether the task genuinely requires that data or whether you can use de-identified information instead.

Watch out for pre-decisional content. If you’re working with agency policy positions not yet finalized, consider whether having Copilot process that content aligns with your handling requirements.

Follow your agency’s data handling policies. They exist for a reason. Just because Copilot can process something doesn’t mean it should.

Current limitations of Copilot

Understanding what Copilot cannot do is just as important as knowing what it can.

Copilot can generate plausible but incorrect information. It assembles responses based on patterns and your data, but it doesn’t understand content the way a subject matter expert does. Always verify important facts and figures.

Copilot does not have real-time internet access in every application. In Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, it works with your organizational data – not the open web.

If content isn’t well-indexed in Microsoft Search, Copilot may not find it. Files in unusual locations or systems outside Microsoft 365 may be invisible to Copilot.

Copilot can struggle with government acronyms, legal citations, and specialized jargon. Responses can also vary – the same prompt may produce different results each time.

Finally, government cloud feature parity is a reality. New features often arrive in commercial tenants before reaching GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments.

Staying informed and building awareness

Copilot’s capabilities and limitations change as Microsoft ships updates. What’s true today may not be true in six months. Here’s how to stay current.

Follow the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for upcoming features and their planned availability in government clouds. Check adoption.microsoft.com for government-specific guidance, training resources, and updated documentation. Connect with your IT team – they’re your best source for what’s actually available and configured in your specific tenant.

Build a habit of reviewing Copilot updates quarterly. When new capabilities arrive, take a few minutes to understand what changed and whether it affects how you use the tool. And when something doesn’t work as expected, report it. Your IT team needs that feedback to support the product effectively and to escalate issues to Microsoft.

Stay curious, but stay informed. Copilot is getting better every month, and understanding its boundaries helps you use it effectively – today and as it evolves.

Sources & References

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Privacy – Comprehensive privacy and data handling documentation
• Copilot Adoption Hub – Government cloud adoption guidance and resources
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Overview – Architecture overview and capabilities
• Enterprise Privacy Controls – Enterprise data residency and privacy controls