MS-102 Manage compliance by using Microsoft Purview Practice Question
An organization has a legal requirement to preserve certain contracts as immutable records. Once a contract is declared as a record, it must not be editable or deletable by users, including administrators. Which Microsoft Purview solution should be configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Records Management with eDiscovery holds, thinking a legal hold provides immutability, but eDiscovery holds only prevent deletion during litigation and do not prevent editing or permanent record locking.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Records Management
Records Management in Microsoft Purview is designed to declare items as immutable records, locking them against editing or deletion by any user, including administrators. This satisfies the legal requirement for preserving contracts as unchangeable records by applying retention labels that enforce strict regulatory compliance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Data Loss Prevention
Why it's wrong here
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) in Microsoft Purview inspects content for sensitive information types (credit card numbers, PII, etc.) and applies protective actions like blocking transmission or notifying users. It does not govern the content lifecycle, and a DLP match leaves the document fully editable and deletable by anyone with permissions. Consequently, DLP cannot declare a contract as an immutable record or prevent authorized modifications, so it fails the legal immutability requirement.
- ✗
eDiscovery (Premium)
Why it's wrong here
eDiscovery (Premium) is a case-based tool for identifying, preserving, collecting, and reviewing relevant content during a legal investigation. A legal hold placed on content prevents deletion by the search hold, but users can still modify the contents of documents, and the hold is intended to be temporary, tied to a specific case. It does not apply a permanent record declaration or enforce edit restrictions, so it cannot satisfy a standing regulatory requirement that contracts remain immutable.
- ✗
Communication Compliance
Why it's wrong here
Communication Compliance is a supervision and risk-control feature that detects messages in email, Microsoft Teams, and Yammer that violate organizational policies such as harassment, threats, or inappropriate sharing. It routes matched communications to reviewers and can store them for investigation, but it has no mechanism to apply retention labels, block document modifications, or declare records. Because it only monitors and reports on communications, it cannot make contracts immutable.
- ✓
Records Management
Why this is correct
Records Management, a feature of Microsoft Purview, uses retention labels with the 'Mark as a record' action to make content immutable: the item cannot be edited, renamed, or deleted, and a full audit trail is recorded. Once a contract is labeled as a record, users—and in the case of regulatory records, even system administrators—cannot alter or purge it before the specified retention period expires. This exactly addresses the legal requirement to preserve contracts in a tamper-proof form, unlike the other three options.
Go deeper
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Microsoft Purview Data Map
Key term
Compliance
Compliance is the process of ensuring that an organization follows laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies that apply to its operations and data handling.
Key term
Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance and compliance service that helps organizations discover, manage, and protect their data across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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