Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
Purview Information Protection and Data Lifecycle
CoreDistinguish classification, explorers, labels, DLP, records management, and retention controls.
Aligned to the SC-900 skills measured as of July 28, 2026; product behavior verified September 10, 2026.
Why this matters
Organizations must understand sensitive information, apply protection, prevent inappropriate use, and keep or dispose of content according to business and regulatory needs.
Must Know
- Microsoft Purview data classification identifies and categorizes content using mechanisms such as sensitive information types, trainable classifiers, and applied labels.
- Content explorer shows items containing classified or labeled content; Activity explorer shows events and user activity related to labels and protection controls.
- Sensitivity labels classify and can protect content through markings, encryption, and access settings; label policies publish labels and define user experiences.
- Data loss prevention (DLP) detects sensitive information and can warn, block, restrict, or record risky sharing and use across supported locations.
- Records Management applies stronger governance for records, including declaration, retention, disposition, and proof of defensible handling.
- Retention policies broadly apply retention or deletion settings to supported locations; retention labels apply item-level settings and can classify content as a record; label policies publish labels for use.
Compare and Distinguish
- Content explorer vs Activity explorer: inspect classified content and locations versus inspect related events and actions.
- Sensitivity label vs DLP: classify and protect the item versus monitor and control how sensitive content is used or shared.
- Retention policy vs retention label: location-wide or broad retention settings versus item-level classification and retention behavior.
- Retention vs backup: govern how long content is kept or deleted versus create a recovery copy.
- Records Management vs ordinary retention: stronger record declarations, controls, and disposition requirements versus general lifecycle handling.
Scenario examples
- A data owner uses Content explorer to find where a sensitive information type appears.
- Activity explorer shows how users have applied labels or triggered protection-related events.
- A DLP policy warns a user before sensitive data is shared outside the organization.
- A retention label marks a contract as a record and begins its defined lifecycle.
Exam traps
- A sensitivity label does not replace every DLP rule.
- Retention does not provide the same purpose as backup and disaster recovery.
- Content explorer shows content locations; Activity explorer emphasizes actions and events.
- A label definition has no user effect until it is made available through an appropriate policy or automatically applied in a supported scenario.
Key takeaways
- Classify first so protection and governance controls can recognize important data.
- Use sensitivity labels for classification/protection and DLP for risky-use controls.
- Separate content visibility from activity visibility.
- Choose broad retention policies or item-level retention labels by scope; use Records Management for record-specific governance.
Ready for the quiz?
- Which explorer shows actions rather than items?
- How does DLP differ from a sensitivity label?
- When is a retention label more suitable than a broad policy?
Related objectives
- D4.3.S1 — Describe the data classification capabilities
- D4.3.S2 — Describe the benefits of Content explorer and Activity explorer
- D4.3.S3 — Describe sensitivity labels and sensitivity label policies
- D4.3.S4 — Describe data loss prevention (DLP)
- D4.3.S5 — Describe records management
- D4.3.S6 — Describe retention policies, retention labels, and retention label policies