Microsoft Purview · Communication Compliance
Communication Compliance
Full access to configure policies, investigate alerts, remediate violations, and manage all aspects of communication monitoring.
Scope: Full access to all communication compliance features organization-wide or scoped to administrative units
Permissions
- Policy Configuration - Create and configure communication compliance policies with ML classifiers
- Alert Investigation - Investigate all alerts and view full message content (Teams, Exchange, Copilot, third-party)
- Remediation - Take remediation actions (notify, escalate, remove messages, apply retention)
- Case Files - Access all case files and investigation history with audit trails
- Policy Settings - Configure policy settings, conditions, and pseudonymization for privacy
- User Permissions - Manage user permissions and role assignments for communication compliance
- Export - Export case data, reports, and evidence for legal or regulatory proceedings
- Trainable Classifiers - Configure trainable classifiers and customize detection logic
- Policy Templates - Manage policy templates (harassment, threat, regulatory violations)
- Copilot Monitoring - Monitor Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions for sensitive content
- Administrative Units - Configure administrative units for scoped policy management
- Policy Exceptions - Manage policy exceptions and user exclusions
Common use cases
- HR investigations into harassment, discrimination, or hostile workplace violations
- Compliance monitoring for regulated communications (FINRA, SEC, FCA, GDPR)
- Detecting insider trading, front-running, or market manipulation communications
- Identifying potential data leakage or IP theft through communications channels
- Monitoring for offensive, threatening, or inappropriate language and images
- Regulatory compliance for financial services message supervision
- Monitoring Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions for sensitive or prohibited content
- Third-party communication platform monitoring (Zoom, Slack) integration
Best practices
- Start policies in simulation mode to tune detection before enforcement and notifications
- Limit full Communication Compliance access to senior HR, legal, and compliance staff only
- Use built-in ML classifiers and policy templates before creating custom detection logic
- Implement multi-stage escalation workflows for serious violations requiring legal review
- Document all investigation activities comprehensively for legal defensibility
- Regular policy reviews to reduce false positives and improve detection accuracy
- Coordinate with legal counsel on employee notification requirements per jurisdiction
- Implement retention policies for investigation records to meet regulatory requirements
- Use pseudonymization feature to protect investigator privacy during initial review
- Train investigators on appropriate use of remediation actions and evidence preservation
- Monitor Copilot interactions with appropriate boundaries between productivity and privacy
- Use administrative units to scope policies for multinational or multi-division organizations
Security considerations
- Extremely sensitive - can view all employee communications including private Teams chats
- Privacy implications require careful legal review and compliance with employment laws
- Must comply with employment laws, worker councils, and collective bargaining agreements
- All access should be logged and audited via unified audit log for oversight
- Consider using Privileged Identity Management (PIM) for just-in-time access activation
- Limit role assignment to absolute minimum number of trusted users
- Ensure proper employee notification and consent per local privacy laws (GDPR, etc.)
- Copilot interaction monitoring may capture highly sensitive business discussions
- Message remediation actions (removal) can impact legal holds and eDiscovery
- Third-party platform integration requires additional privacy impact assessments
- Pseudonymization helps but full de-anonymization is possible by investigators
Common questions
When should I assign the Communication Compliance role?
Assign Communication Compliance when you need to: HR investigations into harassment, discrimination, or hostile workplace violations; Compliance monitoring for regulated communications (FINRA, SEC, FCA, GDPR); Detecting insider trading, front-running, or market manipulation communications; Identifying potential data leakage or IP theft through communications channels; and Monitoring for offensive, threatening, or inappropriate language and images. It is part of Microsoft Purview and should be granted as a least-privilege alternative to broader roles like Global Administrator.
What can someone with the Communication Compliance role do?
The Communication Compliance role grants permissions including: Policy Configuration - Create and configure communication compliance policies with ML classifiers; Alert Investigation - Investigate all alerts and view full message content (Teams, Exchange, Copilot, third-party); Remediation - Take remediation actions (notify, escalate, remove messages, apply retention); Case Files - Access all case files and investigation history with audit trails; Policy Settings - Configure policy settings, conditions, and pseudonymization for privacy; and User Permissions - Manage user permissions and role assignments for communication compliance. See the Permissions section above for the full list.
What are the security risks of the Communication Compliance role?
Key considerations when assigning Communication Compliance: Extremely sensitive - can view all employee communications including private Teams chats; Privacy implications require careful legal review and compliance with employment laws; Must comply with employment laws, worker councils, and collective bargaining agreements; and All access should be logged and audited via unified audit log for oversight. Review the Security considerations section before assignment, and pair with Privileged Identity Management (PIM) for just-in-time access where possible.