495547 – Microsoft Purview compliance portal: OCR – Restrict OCR Scan to mails sent outside the organization

Product:

Purview Communication Compliance

Platform:

Web, World tenant

Status:

Launched

Change type:

Links:

Details:

The feature will allow you to do OCR for only those mails which are being sent outside the organization. Hence, by using this config, you will not be billed for any internal communications or any incoming mails coming from outside the org.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability, Preview

Created:
2025-05-31

updated:
2025-10-10

Public Preview Start Date

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MS workload name

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summary for non-techies**

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Direct effects for Operations**

Increased Risk of Data Leakage
Restricting OCR to only external emails may lead to unmonitored internal communications, increasing the risk of sensitive data being leaked internally without detection.
   - roles: Compliance Officer, IT Security Manager
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/compliance-solutions, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/01/25/the-importance-of-data-compliance-in-the-digital-age/

User Experience Degradation
Users may experience delays or issues in accessing important internal communications that are not being scanned for compliance, leading to potential miscommunication or missed information.
   - roles: End User, Team Manager
   - references: https://www.cio.com/article/243200/how-to-improve-user-experience-in-technology.html, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/10/12/the-importance-of-user-experience-in-technology/

Configutation Options**

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explanation for non-techies**

Imagine your office as a secure building with many rooms. Each room represents an email sent within your organization, and the doors are emails sent outside. Now, think of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) as a security guard who reads and checks the contents of these emails to ensure everything is in order.

In the past, this security guard would check every single room and door, which could be time-consuming and costly. With the new feature in Microsoft Purview's compliance portal, the security guard is now instructed to only check the doors (emails sent outside the organization). This means the guard no longer needs to spend time on the rooms (internal emails) or on checking people coming into the building (incoming emails from outside).

This change is like telling the security guard to focus only on the exits, ensuring that sensitive information doesn't leave the building without proper oversight. By doing this, you save on resources because you're not paying the guard to check every single room unnecessarily. This is similar to how you won't be billed for internal communications or incoming emails with this new configuration.

In essence, this feature helps streamline your security processes, focusing efforts where they are most needed, and optimizing costs by reducing unnecessary checks.