What is the purpose of app protection policies in Intune?

App protection policies in Intune are designed specifically to safeguard applications and the data they handle, especially in scenarios where devices are not fully managed by the organization. These policies allow administrators to enforce security measures on applications regardless of the device ownership type, whether personal or corporate-owned.

The policies can contain rules that restrict data sharing between applications, require authentication for access, encrypt data, and set conditions for data transfer. This helps maintain organizational security and compliance, ensuring that sensitive data remains protected against unauthorized access or leaks.

For example, if an employee uses their personal device for work, app protection policies can still be applied to corporate applications to ensure that sensitive information remains secure, without needing to enforce blanket policies on the entire device. Such targeted policies are essential in a modern work environment where Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) practices are common.

Other choices, such as regulating network settings or managing software installation requests, do not directly pertain to the objectives of app protection policies. Similarly, optimizing application performance isn't the primary goal of these policies, which focus more on security than performance optimization.