Skip to main content

Data classification best practices

This article aims to provide inspiration and guidance on the best practices in data classification.

Tanya Babina avatar
Written by Tanya Babina
Updated over 11 months ago
  1. Badged label

Create a Badged label, name it File Confidentiality.

Add the following label options:

Public

These files contain non-sensitive information that does not pose a risk to the organization if disclosed.

Examples of files:

  • press releases

  • marketing brochures

  • job postings

Suggestions:

  • create a policy to automatically unshare files if not modified longer than 3 years

  • review access periodically and update permissions as necessary

Internal

These files are intended for use within the organization only and should not be shared with external parties.

Examples of files:

  • employee handbooks

  • training materials

  • working instructions

Suggestions:

  • create a policy to automatically remove all external sharing periodically

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with “Anyone with the link” periodically

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with personal accounts periodically

  • review access periodically and update permissions as necessary

Confidential

These files contain sensitive information that, if disclosed, could harm the organization, its employees, clients, or partners. Access is restricted to specific individuals or teams who need the information to perform their job functions.

Examples of files:

  • financial reports

  • customer and vendor contracts

  • business plans and strategies

  • employee performance reviews

  • salaries.

Suggestions:

  • create a policy to automatically apply the label "Confidential" to files in specific shared drives (e.g. HR, Sales)

  • create a policy to automatically apply the label "Confidential" to files with specific keywords in the title (e.g. "CV", "financial report", "earnings")

  • create a policy to automatically remove external sharing if not modified longer than 6 months

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with personal accounts periodically

  • create a policy to automatically remove domain-wide sharing periodically

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with “Anyone with the link” periodically

  • review access periodically and update permissions as necessary

Restricted

These files contain highly sensitive information that, if disclosed, could cause severe damage to the organization, its reputation, or its stakeholders. Access is strictly controlled and monitored.

Examples of files:

  • trade secrets

  • legal documents

  • sensitive client data

Suggested policies:

  • create a policy to automatically apply the label "Restricted" to files in specific shared drives (e.g. Management, Finance, Legal)

  • create a policy to automatically apply the label "Restricted" to files in specific folders (e.g. Project Alpha folder)

  • create a policy to automatically remove external sharing if not modified longer than 6 months

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with personal accounts

  • create a policy to automatically remove domain-wide sharing

  • create a policy to automatically remove sharing with “Anyone with the link”

  • review access periodically and update permissions as necessary

2. Standard labels

You can create up to 149 standard labels.

Examples:

Project name

Add a text field where end-users can enter a project’s name. This will allow you to quickly locate all documents related to a certain project.

Department

A drop-down options field could require end users to choose their department, for instance, “Marketing”, “Legal”, “Sales”. This can be helpful in large organizations.

Country

For cross-team collaboration between teams operating in multiple countries, consider adding a field for end-users to specify the document’s associated country or region. This makes it easier to locate all documents relevant to one specific country.

More inspiration and tips:

Did this answer your question?