Sensitivity Label | Office of Information Technology (ITO)

Important Notice

[2025-03-31] DeepSeek and Qwen models are now available on HKBU GenAI Platform (Staff & Student)

Overview

Sensitivity labels, as part of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) bundled with the Microsoft A5 License are implemented to safeguard Hong Kong Baptist University's Institutional Data, in alignment with the HKBU Data Governance Policy.

These labels enhance data protection by tagging on Emails, Microsoft Office and PDF documents created or edited with HKBU's Microsoft 365 accounts, considering its risk, data classification and the required protection levels. By controlling access to protect privacy and confidentiality, sensitivity labels help prevent data breaches and ensure compliance with our data governance policy.

HKBU's sensitivity labels are categorised into four classifications: Public, Internal, Confidential, and Restricted, each offering varying levels of data protection.

Document Owners and Email Senders Using Different Sensitivity Labels to Apply Protection on MS Office Documents, PDF Files and Emails

Label	Sharing Target(s) - Accessible to Individual/Group	MS Office Documents and PDF Files	Emails
Restricted	a) Named Individual(s) or Role(s)	Yes	Yes
Confidential	a) All HKBU Members @hkbu.edu.hk @life.hkbu.edu.hk @associate.hkbu.edu.hk b) Named Individual(s) or Group(s) or Role(s)	Yes	Yes
Internal (Default Label for Document of the Non-General Group)	a) All HKBU Members @hkbu.edu.hk @life.hkbu.edu.hk @associate.hkbu.edu.hk	Yes	Yes
Public (Default Label for Document and Email of the General Group; and Default Label for Email of the Non-General Group)	a) Anyone	No	No

Sensitivity Label Implementation by Group

HKBU staff are categorised into two groups: General Group and Non-General Group, each with its own default label for documents and emails.

	General Group	Non-General Group
Staff Grouping	Academic Teaching Staff (excluding SCE/CIE) Associate Staff (Retiree) Research Staff	Administrative Staff All Staff Members of SCE/CIE Departmental/Project A/C Miscellaneous Account (e.g. Extended accounts without contract)
Email Default Label	Public¹	Public¹
Microsoft & PDF Documents Default Label	Public¹	Internal²

General Group

Non-General Group

Staff Grouping

Academic Teaching Staff
(excluding SCE/CIE)

Associate Staff (Retiree)

Research Staff

Administrative Staff

All Staff Members of SCE/CIE

Departmental/Project A/C

Miscellaneous Account
(e.g. Extended accounts without contract)

Email Default Label

Public¹

Microsoft & PDF Documents Default Label

Public¹

Internal²

Remark 1:

When emails or documents are tagged with the Public label by default, external users will still be able to access them. In these cases, no protection is applied, but a blue shield icon will appear on each file to indicate its status.

Remark 2:

When documents are tagged with the Internal label by default, protection is automatically enabled for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word files. This protection is activated whenever the file is opened, edited, or saved by anyone in the Non-General Group. Once protected, these files are accessible by HKBU members only, including staff, students, retirees, and departmental/project account holders. Additionally, the label applied on Excel, PowerPoint and Word files will be transfer to the PDF files when user using the “Save as PDF” function.

Recipients' Rights for MS Office Documents, PDF Files and Emails with Different Sensitivity Labels

Recipients’ Rights for Microsoft Documents by using Desktop App

	Microsoft Documents
	View	Edit	Copy	Print	Save	Export	Access the document programmatically	Full Control
Restricted
1. Named Individual(s)/ or Role(s)
a) Viewer	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
b) Restricted Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
c) Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
d) Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Confidential
2. All HKBU Members	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
3. Named Individual(s) or Group(s) or Role(s)
a) Viewer	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
b) Restricted Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
c) Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
d) Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Recipients’ Rights for PDF Files Converted from Microsoft Documents

	PDF Files Converted from Microsoft Documents
	View	Edit	Copy	Print	Save As	Full Control
Restricted
1. Named Individual(s) or Role(s)
a) Viewer	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
b) Restricted Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
c) Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
d) Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Confidential
2. All HKBU Members	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
3. Named Individual(s) or Group(s) or Role(s)
a) Viewer	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
b) Restricted Editor	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
c) Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
d) Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Recipients’ Rights for PDF Files with Sensitivity Label Applied by Using Adobe Acrobat Pro

	PDF Files with Directly Applied Sensitivity Labels
	View	Edit	Copy	Print	Save As	Full Control
Restricted
1. Named Individual(s) or Role(s)
a) Read	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
b) Change	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
c) Full Control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Confidential
2. All HKBU Members	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
3. Named Individual(s) or Group(s) or Role(s)
a) Read	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
b) Change	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
c) Full Control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Recipients’ Rights for Emails

	Emails
	View	Edit	Copy	Print	Save	Export	Full Control	Reply	Reply All	Forward
Restricted
1. Named Individual(s) or Role(s)	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Confidential
2. All HKBU Members	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
3. Named Individual(s) or Group(s) or Role(s)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Enquiries

Contact Us
Tel:	3411 7899
Email:	hotline@hkbu.edu.hk
Address:	RRS303, Sir Run Run Shaw Building, Ho Sin Hang Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong