Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question

Your Microsoft 365 tenant contains sensitive financial data that must be retained for 7 years. You configure a retention policy in Microsoft Purview compliance portal. After 7 years, the data is still accessible to users. What is the most likely reason?

⚠ Common exam trap

It's easy for candidates to assume a retention policy automatically deletes data after the retention period ends, but Microsoft Purview requires an explicit deletion action to be configured for automatic removal; otherwise, the data is retained indefinitely.

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

✓

The retention policy does not include a deletion action.

A retention policy in Microsoft Purview can be configured to only retain data without a deletion action. If the policy lacks a deletion action, data will be preserved for the specified period but will not be automatically removed after that period expires, leaving it accessible to users. The scenario describes data still being accessible after 7 years, which directly indicates that no deletion action was configured to remove the data at the end of the retention period.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
The retention policy does not include a deletion action.
Why this is correct
A retention policy without a deletion action is configured to only retain content for a specified period. In Microsoft 365, when a policy has only a retention action (no 'Delete items automatically' option selected), items remain indefinitely after the retention period expires. Because the policy never schedules a purge, the sensitive data persists in the tenant even after the retention timeframe elapses. This directly matches the scenario in the question.
✗
A litigation hold is applied to the data.
Why it's wrong here
Litigation hold is a legal preservation mechanism that suspends deletion of all content in a mailbox or site, regardless of any retention policy. However, the question does not indicate that a litigation hold was placed on this data; it describes a retention policy outcome. If a retention policy with deletion were the only configured policy, the data would be deleted unless a hold actively overrides it. Therefore, while a litigation hold could cause items to remain, it is not the most direct or correct explanation here.
✗
The retention policy is configured to retain data for 7 years and then delete it.
Why it's wrong here
If the retention policy were configured to retain data for 7 years and then delete it, the system would irrevocably purge the items once the 7-year period elapsed and any holds were released. The persistence of the data after the retention period directly contradicts such a configuration. The fact that sensitive data remains indicates that the policy lacks the deletion action, not that it includes one. Thus, this option incorrectly describes the actual policy settings.
✗
The data is marked as a record and requires disposition review.
Why it's wrong here
Disposition review is an optional approval step that occurs only when a retention policy includes a deletion action at the end of the retention period. Marking data as a record with disposition review adds a workflow requiring user approval before deletion, but it does not change the underlying retention action. Since the correct explanation is that the policy has no deletion action, no disposition review would ever be triggered. Even if a record were under disposition review, that mechanism assumes deletion is configured—which is not the case here.

Go deeper

MS-102 Deploy and manage a Microsoft 365 tenant Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

Related to this question