Sensitivity Labels

[Last reviewed by : Syafie March 19, 2026]

 

Table of Contents

• Background
• What are sensitivity labels?
• When should I use sensitivity labels?
• Should I change automatically applied sensitivity labels?
• How can I change sensitivity labels?
• What are the current automatically tagged data types?
  • Highly Confidential
  • Confidential
  • General
  • Public
  • Personal

• More Information

Background

We're starting our Data Loss Prevention (DLP) journey to help protect our data while we continue to adopt additional generative AI tools. Sensitivity labels will now appear on all M365 files, and Highly Confidential files will not be accessible by Copilot. The article below outlines the key features of this DLP implementation and helpful information you'll need to know to ensure you're helping protect our data.

What are sensitivity labels?

Sensitivity labels are Microsoft/Office 365 security controls that add identifying metadata to files, emails, documents, and SharePoint sites. This metadata allows Microsoft information protection policies to add conditional protections or controls to relevant data types.

Currently, sensitivity labels are only determining whether or not Copilot is allowed to process the data within the labeled file:

• If a file is labeled as "Highly Confidential", Copilot IS NOT able to interact with the file, see the contents, or perform any data processing on the file.

• If a file is labeled as anything other than "Highly Confidential", Copilot IS able to interact with the file, see the contents, or perform any data processing on the file.

When should I use sensitivity labels?

You should utilize sensitivity labels whenever you are interacting with potentially sensitive, confidential, or personally-identifying information.

We encourage you to begin labeling your M365 documents according to the sensitivity label definitions here.

Should I change automatically applied sensitivity labels?

Yes, if a file was automatically labeled with "Highly Confidential" for example, due to the contents of the file matching one of the pre-determined patterns below; you may want to update the label to allow Copilot data processing on the file.

Additionally, if you notice a file should have a label, or if the automatic label is incorrect, please update the label to align with the relevant data type below, or business requirement for the file.

How can I change sensitivity labels?

1. Open the "Sensitivity" tab on the ribbon of your Microsoft application

   

2. Select the appropriate sensitivity label as required from the drop down menu

   

3. You will see the sensitivity label of the file update to the selected level

What are the current automatically tagged data types?

Highly Confidential:

Highly sensitive business data that would cause damage to Nintex if shared with unauthorized people.

Examples include:

• All geographic variants of:
  • Bank Account Numbers
  • Credit Card Numbers
  • Driver's License Numbers
  • Passports
  • Personal/Country ID Numbers
    • i.e. Spain DNI, Croatia personal identification (OIB) number
  • Social Security Numbers
• All Azure Credential types (Tokens, API Keys, HTML Auth Headers, Certificates, etc.) 
  • Listed here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-sensitive-information-type-entity-definitions

• All detected platform credential types (i.e. Amazon S3 SAK, GitHub Personal Access Token, Google API key, X.509 Certificate Private Key, etc.

Confidential:

Sensitive data that could cause damage to Nintex if shared with unauthorized people.

Examples include:

• All geographic variants of 
  • Business or Corporate Entity IDs/Numbers
    • i.e. Australian Business Number, Australian Company Number
  • Tax ID Numbers
  • Physical Addresses
• Financial Records:
  • ABA Routing Numbers

  • SWIFT Codes

General:

Nintex data that is not intended for public consumption. However, this can be shared with external partners, as required.

Examples include:

• Medical:
  • Disease terminology
  • Lab Test Terms
  • Surgical Procedures
  • Medication Names
  • ICD-9/ICD-10 Codes
• IP Addresses v4/v6
• All other data types/files that are not listed in the "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential" categories

Other Sensitivity Labels

Public:

Data that is intended for public consumption, and can be openly shared with external parties.

This is a manually applied label, there are no automatic data types that will apply a label to this category.

Examples include:

• Marketing content for public release
• Blog posts
• Product announcement PowerPoint decks

• Public marketing videos

Personal:

Data that is intended for personal use/archive. User discretion applied for personal organization and categorizing.

This is a manually applied label, there are no automatic data types that will apply a label to this category.

Examples include:

• Personal employment records
• Pay stubs
• Personal planning and goals

FAQs

Will I have to keep updating automatically tagged sensitivity labels on the same files?

• No, the user's choice supersedes automatic labeling policies. If you manually update the label for a file that was automatically labeled as something else, your manual choice overrides the automatic policy, and the system will not try to update the label again.

What types of files can be labeled?

• Sensitivity labels can be applied to all file extensions for:
  • Word: .docx, .docm, .dotx, .dotm
  • Excel: .xlsx, .xlsb; .xlsm, .xltm, .xltx
  • PowerPoint: .pptx, .pptm, .potx, .potm, .ppsx, .ppsm
  • Outlook/Exchange: .eml, .msg

Additional Information

• How to use sensitivity labels in Microsoft/Office 365 applications: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/apply-sensitivity-labels-to-your-files-2f96e7cd-d5a4-403b-8bd7-4cc636bae0f9 
• List of automatically detected data types: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-sensitive-information-type-entity-definitions 

If you required any further assistance with sensitivity labels, please contact IT Support by submitting a ticket through IT Helpdesk.