Most data leaves a business through completely ordinary actions, a spreadsheet emailed to a personal account to work on over the weekend, a client list copied to a USB drive, a confidential document shared externally by mistake. Microsoft Purview's data loss prevention tools exist to catch exactly that, before it happens, not after.
What DLP Actually Does
A DLP policy scans content, in emails, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, for patterns that match sensitive information: credit card numbers, tax file numbers, or content manually labelled confidential. When it finds a match being shared somewhere it shouldn't, it can warn the user, block the action outright, or simply log it for review, depending on how the policy is configured.
Where It Actually Helps a Perth Business
- Accidental external sharing - a client contract or financial spreadsheet attached to the wrong email, caught before it sends.
- Well-meaning workarounds - a staff member forwarding a file to a personal account to work from home, without realising the data handling risk.
- Departing staff - unusual bulk downloads or exports in the lead-up to a resignation, worth pairing with a proper offboarding checklist.
- Compliance evidence - a documented policy and audit trail, useful for businesses handling regulated client data.
What Licensing You Actually Need
Baseline Purview DLP capability is included from Business Premium and E3 upward, enough to run policies against email and core Microsoft 365 apps. The more advanced tiers, adaptive protection that adjusts based on user risk, and deeper analytics, sit in E5. Most Perth SMBs get meaningful value from the baseline tier without needing to upgrade the whole tenant.
Getting the Rollout Right
Start policies in audit-only mode, logging matches without blocking anything, so you can see what a policy would have caught before it starts interrupting staff. This also surfaces the everyday workarounds staff have built up, which is worth pairing with a look at shadow AI and shadow IT, since both often show up in the same audit. Move to enforcement gradually, starting with your highest-risk data types.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need E5 licensing to use Purview?
A baseline set of Purview features is included in Business Premium and E3, enough for basic policies. The more advanced capabilities, like adaptive protection and deeper analytics, are bundled into E5, see our E3 vs E5 comparison for the detail.
Will this slow staff down or block them from doing their job?
Only if policies are configured too aggressively. A well-tuned policy warns or blocks in genuinely risky situations, sharing a file marked confidential externally, not routine internal work, which is why starting in audit-only mode before enforcing matters.
Does DLP replace the need for staff training on data handling?
No, it's a safety net for mistakes, not a substitute for staff understanding what shouldn't leave the business in the first place. The two work together, training reduces how often the policy needs to trigger at all.
Can Purview see what's happening on personal devices?
Only to the extent those devices are enrolled and compliant under Intune. An unmanaged personal device accessing company email through a browser has far less protection available than one properly enrolled.
We can set up and tune Purview DLP policies without disrupting your team.
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Book a Free IT Health CheckFor related reading, see Microsoft 365 E3 vs E5, Shadow AI: What Perth Businesses Don't Know Is Happening, and Microsoft Entra ID Explained.