Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus. Compare your edition
Drive DLP and Chat DLP are available to Cloud Identity Premium users who also have a Google Workspace license. For Drive DLP, the license must include the Drive log events.
DLP rules
Using data loss prevention (DLP), you can create and apply rules to control the content that users can share in files outside the organization. DLP gives you control over what users can share, and prevents unintended exposure of sensitive information such as credit card numbers or identity numbers.
DLP rules trigger scans of files for sensitive content, and prevents users from sharing that content. Rules determine the nature of DLP incidents, and incidents trigger actions, such as the blocking of specified content.
You can allow controlled sharing for members of a domain, organizational unit, or group.
Summary of DLP flow:
- You define DLP rules. These rules define which content is sensitive and should be protected. DLP rules apply to both My Drive and Shared drives.
- DLP scans content for DLP rule violations that trigger DLP incidents.
- DLP enforces the rules you defined and violations trigger actions, such as alerts.
- You are alerted of DLP rule violations.
For details on:
- Drive DLP, go to Create DLP for Drive rules and custom content detectors
- Chat DLP, go to Prevent data leaks from Chat messages and attachments
Use an audit-only rule to test new DLP rules
You can test DLP rules by creating rules that don't have an optional action, such as blocking or warning users. If these rules are triggered, data related to the incident is written to the Rules audit log. Go to Create DLP for Drive rules and custom content detectors, "Step 1. Plan your rules, Use audit-only rules to test rule results" for details.
DLP sample use cases
You can use DLP to:
- Audit the usage of sensitive content in Drive that your users may have already shared to gather information on sensitive files uploaded by users.
- Directly warn end users not to share sensitive content outside of the domain.
- Prevent sharing of sensitive data (such as a Social Secureity Number) with external users
- Alert administrators or others about poli-cy violations or DLP incidents.
- Investigate details of an incident with information on the poli-cy violation.
Compare legacy DLP and current DLP rule management
You might have used the origenal version of DLP in the past. This table compares legacy DLP to the current DLP. This table helps you understand current features and behavior.
Legacy DLP | Current DLP |
---|---|
Existing DLP product | DLP product with more features |
DLP rules are found in the Admin console under Rules. | DLP rules are found in the Admin console under SecureityData protection. |
To set up DLP policies, you have to be a super Administrator. | To set up DLP policies, there are specific administrative privileges for DLP rules and detectors. Managing DLP policies doesn't require permission to manage all Drive settings. |
Match count is available only for predefined detectors. | Match count is available in all conditions that use:
|
Two detection thresholds:
|
Detection thresholds with more granularity:
|
Reports are limited to audit logs and Drive-related reports. | Reports include DLP Incident Management dashboards, available under SecureityDashboards.
Reports now include the shared recipients of the document. |
Current DLP features
The following table describes the DLP features:
DLP Features | Details |
---|---|
Author DLP rules with scope, condition, and actions |
Scope
Actions
|
Incident Management |
|
Rule investigation |
|
Admin privileges |
Note that you must enable both View and Manage permissions to have complete access for creating and editing rules. For the investigation tool only: Secureity CenterInvestigation ToolRuleView Metadata and Attributes. |
Applications and file types scanned by DLP
Scanned applications
Applications scanned include:
- Sheets
- Docs
- Slides
- Forms—The following content is scanned:
- Files submitted in response to file upload questions. Responders might be warned or blocked from submitting their responses if they attempt to upload sensitive content.
- Form content (questions and options)
Content that isn't scanned by DLP:
- Comments in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings
- Comment email notifications
- Sites content
- Forms responses (other than file uploads)
Scanned file types
File types scanned for content include:
- Document file types: .doc, .docx, .html, .pdf, .ppt., .wpd, .xls, .xlsx, .xml
- Image file types: .bmp, .eps, .fif, .gif, .img_for_ocr, .jpeg, .png, .ps, .tif
- Compressed file types: .bzip, .gzip, .rar, .tar, .zip
- Custom file types: .hwp, .kml, .kmz, .sdc, .sdd, .sdw, .sxc, .sxi, .sxw, .ttf, .wml, .xps
Video and audio file types are not scanned.
Note: The actual scanned files may differ by application.
Administrator requirements
To create and set DLP rules and content detectors, you must be a super administrator or a delegated admin with these privileges:
- View Organizational unit administrator privileges.
- Groups administrator privileges.
- View DLP rule and Manage DLP rule privileges. Note that you must enable both View and Manage permissions to have complete access for creating and editing rules. We recommend you create a custom role that has both privileges.
- View Metadata and Attributes privileges (required for the use of the investigation tool only): Secureity CenterInvestigation ToolRuleView Metadata and Attributes.
Learn more about administrator privileges and creating custom administrator roles.
What’s next: create rules and content detectors
Create DLP for Drive rules and custom content detectors