“Is Microsoft 365 Copilot really that unsafe?”
I was in another client meeting where the organisation wanted to explore the potential uses of AI. Specifically, they wanted to consider the paid license use of Copilot for Microsoft 365.
Copilot has many great features, like summarising emails and Teams meetings. However, regular readers of my articles will know that while I pay for many AI tools, I still don’t think most are worth their costs, particularly MS Copilot.
If the cost alone doesn’t dissuade you as a potential Not for Profit buyer (way more expensive than your Microsoft 365 license!), I actually hope this one issue will…
…at least until you fix it!
The #1 issue making Copilot unsafe for your organisation
Want to know the #1 reason why I don’t recommend Copilot to most Not for Profits?
Copilot can make your data more unsafe!
Yes, I know that Microsoft is trying to keep their enterprise customers’ data private within Copilot. However, there’s another issue that’s actually your org’s fault, not Microsoft’s!
The Copilot unsafe issue?
Very few Not for Profits have systematically identified and categorised their data by privacy or sensitivity.
These labels are an absolute necessity these days, but few Not for Profits have made this time and financial investment to organise and tag their data properly.
This is important not only for data residing in places like your CRM, but also for what lies within OneDrive, SharePoint and other shared folder locations.
What may appear to be a non-priority task becomes a much bigger issue because Copilot makes finding information in your organisation easier with a simple query.
And while this function may make some more productive, it can also create many privacy problems.
Before Copilot, you needed to know the name of the file. With Copilot, you can just ask a question using keywords.
Just imagine all the little-known documents that might resurface with a query about payroll or a particular employee when confidential files might have been saved in inappropriate folders or locations.
Yikes!
The solution?
Most organisations struggle with finding the right information quickly.
Most organisations also worry about data privacy.
Some organisations wish to test Microsoft’s AI functionalities with Copilot but are concerned.
I recommend that you tackle all these problems with the same project.
If you really want to do this strategically, I would start with a data strategy.
However, a cheaper, tactical project that focuses on locating, categorising and labelling all your information may be more feasible. The scope of work would also create automated rules for future information.
This one project will achieve both productivity and data privacy benefits.
Then, you can also utilise new tools like Microsoft’s paid Copilot subscription in a safer way if you wish.
P.S. If you found this article helpful, you might want to read these too:
- What is a Data Strategy?
- Shadow data – another cybersecurity risk in your organisation
- Why poor data quality is hurting your organisation
Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Association President, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today, she helps NFPs with strategic IT decisions, especially around investments.
