It usually starts with a simple question.
“Why can they see this file?”
Someone has opened a document and noticed that people outside the organization still have access. The project ended months ago. The original owner has moved teams. No one remembers who shared it, and no alert was ever triggered.
Now the admin is digging through permissions, trying to understand what happened and how long the exposure has existed.
If you manage Google Workspace, this situation is probably familiar. Sharing in Drive happens in seconds, but reviewing that sharing rarely happens at all. Files leave the domain and are forgotten. Public links stay active indefinitely. Ownership drifts as users change roles or leave the company.
The first signal is rarely a dashboard notification. It is usually a colleague who finds something they should not.
The stakes for this lack of visibility are significant. In fact, 55% of companies say data privacy is a challenge related to misconfigurations, and over half of all cloud-stored data is now classified as sensitive. The files in Drive are becoming more valuable to the business and more attractive to attackers.
For Google Workspace admins, safety is about system behavior. That includes how data flows, who owns it, and which third-party apps have access to the environment. To stay secure, these controls need regular attention. Not just once a year, and certainly not only after an incident. File sharing governance in Google Workspace is no longer optional.
Here are five areas every admin should review to reduce data exposure without disrupting the collaboration your team relies on.
1. Kill the “Ghost” Shares: Audit External and Public Links
External sharing is where most data leaks begin. This is not usually due to malice; it is because Google Drive is built for speed. A user shares a document with a partner for quick feedback and then moves on to the next task.
Months later, that “Anyone with the link” access is still active, quietly exposing your data to the open web. Many admins assume they will notice these exposures, but in reality, that only happens if someone is actively hunting for them. Old shares rarely raise flags on their own.
The Goal: Move beyond one-off cleanups. Native Google tools can surface this info through logs, but consistency is the challenge. Using a tool like GAT+ allows you to see all externally shared files in a single view and revoke access in bulk, preventing temporary convenience from becoming a permanent security debt.
2. Solve the Ownership Gap for Sensitive Data
Ownership feels like an administrative detail until it becomes a security issue. When high-value files are owned by former employees, contractors, or users who have shifted departments, accountability disappears. If no one clearly “owns” a file, no one is responsible for auditing its access.
Every admin should be able to answer one question: Who is responsible for the most sensitive data in this domain? Without a clear owner, compliance and data governance become impossible to manage.
The Goal: Integrate ownership transfers into your standard workflows. Handling this manually does not scale. By building ownership changes into your offboarding or role change processes using tools like GAT+ and Flow, responsibility stays aligned with the business as the team evolves.
Admins can also define expiration dates for sharing permissions. This automatically removes access after a specified number of days, preventing temporary collaboration from becoming permanent exposure.
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3. Tighten the Perimeter: Internal Over Sharing
We often focus on the external threat, but a massive amount of exposure happens internally. It is incredibly common to find sensitive folders shared with “Everyone in the domain” or with large, legacy Google Groups that no longer serve a clear purpose.
This creates a discovery risk: an employee could stumble upon payroll data or strategic plans simply by searching Drive because a folder inherited global permissions years ago. This increases your insider risk and makes access much harder to justify during an audit.
The Goal: Move toward access that is intentional and role-based. Periodically review internal sharing and prune permissions that were inherited by default rather than granted by necessity.
4. Audit Your Shadow IT: Revoke Risky OAuth Permissions
Third-party apps are one of the least visible risks in Google Workspace. Users grant access quickly, often without fully understanding the scopes involved. An app that can read, edit, or delete Drive files might be used for a one-time task, yet it can retain that access indefinitely.
Increasingly, many of these requests come from AI-powered tools. Meeting assistants, writing helpers, automation services. They promise productivity, and users approve them in seconds. From a security perspective, they operate like any other OAuth application. Once access is granted, it remains until someone removes it.
The risk is not that the tool is AI.
The risk is that the access is rarely reviewed.
In many cases, these tools enter the environment without formal approval. They are adopted directly by users, which means IT may not classify them as trusted or required. If no one is responsible for validating the access, it tends to remain indefinitely.
An application with full Drive permissions that has not been used in months represents unnecessary exposure.
The Goal: Review app access with the same rigor as user permissions. With GAT+, admins can rank applications by risk level and last-used date, making it easier to identify what is approved, what is required, and what should be removed.
5. Move from Manual Checks to Continuous Alerting
Most admins still rely on periodic audits: they check settings once a quarter, fix what they find, and move on. The problem is timing. By the time you discover a risky public link during an audit, the data may have been exposed for weeks.
The modern approach is continuous alerting. Instead of searching for problems after the fact, you should be notified the moment a high-risk event occurs. Whether it is a new external share on a sensitive folder, an unauthorized app installation, or an unusual bulk download, real-time alerts allow you to address the issue before exposure spreads.
The Goal: Turn security into an ongoing process. Audits are still necessary for compliance, but alerting is what actually reduces your daily risk.
Final thoughts
Safer Internet Day is about awareness. For Google Workspace admins, safety comes from visibility and control.
You do not need to stop people from collaborating. You need to know what is shared, who owns it, who can access it, and which systems interact with it. When those questions have clear answers, your domain is already safer than most.
Start with visibility.
Follow with consistent enforcement.
That is how safer internet practices actually work inside a Google Workspace environment.
FAQ’s About Google Workspace File Sharing Governance
What is file sharing governance in Google Workspace?
File sharing governance in Google Workspace is the practice of controlling how files are shared internally and externally, who owns them, which users and apps can access them, and how changes are monitored. It helps admins reduce data exposure while still allowing teams to collaborate in Google Drive.
Why is external file sharing a security risk in Google Drive?
External file sharing becomes risky when access is not reviewed regularly. Files shared with external users or public links can remain active indefinitely, even after the business need has passed. Without visibility and periodic audits, sensitive data can stay exposed without anyone realizing it.
Why does file ownership matter for Google Workspace security?
File ownership determines who controls access and changes to a file. When files are owned by former employees, contractors, or external users, accountability is lost. Clear ownership is essential for enforcing security policies, supporting compliance, and managing access during offboarding or role changes.
What is the difference between audits and alerting in Google Workspace security?
Audits help admins understand what has already happened, while alerting helps detect risky activity as it occurs. Relying only on audits means issues may go unnoticed for weeks or months. Alerts for events like new external shares or risky app access allow admins to respond faster and reduce exposure.
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