Information about Copilot and Data Protection

In the current version, Copilot Chat only has access to the Office documents you have open or upload to Copilot Chat. An extended license is still required if Copilot is to search across all your documents.

Microsoft does not train its AI based on SDU’s data, and SDU’s agreement with Microsoft means that, in principle, you can use Copilot to process confidential information. However, there are a few points of attention you should be aware of when using Copilot.

How to ensure your data is protected

• Always make sure you are logged in to your work account – otherwise, you are not protected.


• When using Copilot Chat, always check that a small green shield icon appears in the upper right corner. The shield means you are covered by “Enterprise Data Protection” and thus SDU’s data processing agreement with Microsoft. There may be rare cases where the shield does not appear inside your Office documents, but if you are logged in with your work account, you are protected.


• If the shield does not appear in other contexts, you are likely in an open, non-protected version of Copilot – for example, if you use Copilot via a Bing search without being logged in with your work account. In this case, your data is not protected in the same way. So keep an eye on the shield when you are online and using Bing.

Web search in Copilot with the green shield – how does it work?

When you are in a document and ask a question where Copilot determines that the answer requires information from the internet, Copilot generates a short search query based on your prompt and sends it to Bing. Copilot uses the context from the document you are working in to create tailored keywords. It does not send your entire prompt or document – only selected keywords, unless the question is very short, such as “weather in Odense.”

SDU is in the process of implementing additional measures to ensure that Copilot does not include sensitive personal data from the context when performing a web search. If you are working on a highly confidential document, you should avoid using Copilot for anything other than, for example, summarization. In other words, you should not make queries/prompts where Copilot would need to enrich the answer with content from the internet.

SDU IT will provide updated information if the implementation of these measures means you can disregard the above precautionary principle. Microsoft’s products and services are continuously evolving.

SDU IT is monitoring these changes and will inform you of any relevant updates or new measures going forward.

If you are unsure how to use Copilot, please contact aihub@sdu.dk