"Are we going to send our company data to Copilot?" It's the question enterprise decision-makers ask most often. The answer requires understanding Copilot's architecture. In this article we'll cover Microsoft's data-processing principles and an evaluation from a data-protection standpoint.
01. Where Does the Data Go?
Copilot sends the user's command and the relevant company data (grounding) to the Azure OpenAI Service. After the answer is produced, the data isn't retained; logging is minimal and only for error diagnosis.
02. Not Used for Model Training
Microsoft contractually guarantees that enterprise Copilot data isn't used to train the GPT model. This is the biggest difference from "consumer" ChatGPT.
03. Data-Protection Evaluation
From a data-protection standpoint, Copilot is in the position of a "data processor." The company, as data controller, signs a data-processing agreement with Microsoft. The agreement clarifies data-retention, deletion and access rights.
04. Data Residency
Azure OpenAI processes within the EU under the EU Data Boundary. A separate evaluation is needed for Turkey; a more rigorous analysis in critical sectors (defense, public).
05. Classification and DLP
If your company uses Microsoft Purview, sensitive information (sensitivity labels) can be rule-blocked while being processed by Copilot. For example, documents labeled "Confidential" aren't included in AI summarization.