Overview
To support the responsible use of AI, Web Search is disabled in NEOMED's Copilot environment.
This change helps create a safe and secure space for the NEOMED community to use Copilot with confidence — including for work involving Internal, Restricted and Highly Restricted University Data. Web search can introduce risks related to data protection, confidentiality, and compliance. When web-based features are used, there is a possibility that sensitive or regulated information could be transmitted outside of our controlled environment, stored in external systems, or processed in ways that are not aligned with our data handling standards. This includes risks related to inadvertent data disclosure, loss of control over data retention, and uncertainty around how third parties may use or store information. Disabling Web Search ensures that Copilot operates solely within our secure Microsoft 365 environment, helping us maintain compliance with HIPAA and FERPA regulations.
You can refer to the Classification of University Data and Systems Policy for how University Data should be categorized and protected based on its sensitivity.
Ensuring University Data is Protected
You must be logged into your NEOMED account to ensure non-Public University Data is protected. Any data submitted in personal or consumer versions of Copilot are not protected.
Visit copilot.microsoft.com and log in with your NEOMED email address. You can confirm you are logged into our protected version of Copilot by looking for the shield icon at the top of your screen and hovering over it to verify enterprise data protections have been enabled:
What to Expect
To secure NEOMED's supported version of Copilot for non-Public University data, IT has disabled Copilot’s Web Search feature, which uses Bing to retrieve up-to-date information and is governed by separate terms from Copilot, impacting data protection. All responses will be generated using the internal Large Language Model (LLM) without fetching external web content, reducing exposure to external data handling practices.
As of this notice, Copilot’s last major knowledge update was in April 21, 2026. Without Web Search, prompts that rely on real-time or web-based information may yield inaccurate or outdated results. Examples:
- Summarize the latest research on dementia published in the last month.
- What are the current NIH grant deadlines?
- What’s the weather in Rootstown today?
Prompts that rely on general knowledge, reasoning, or user-provided context should continue to yield good results. Examples:
- Summarize the attached document.
- Explain the difference between HIPAA and FERPA.
- Draft an email to a peer summarizing our project goals.
As with any AI tool, we caution you that responses from Copilot may not always be accurate, so please double check information and be aware of underlying biases in these tools.