"Bring your own device" failing to live up to its promise

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in mobile on (#JJ6G)
With the rise of mobile computing came a swell of frustration by people who preferred their fancy, personal devices to the locked-down devices (if any) provided for them at work. Eventually, corporations relented, opening the door to a plethora of "bring your own device" policies that IT staff detest owing to increased security risk and the unacceptable co-mingling of personal and private data.

We've been working in this environment for a few years now, and increasingly, tech directors are willing to speak out about this model's deficiencies. But users aren't unanimously happy with the compromises made either. One small example:
In an interesting test case in California, a worker is reported to be suing her former employer for invasion of privacy and wrongful termination of employment.

The person claimed they were sacked after deleting an app (Xora iPhone app) from her company-issued handset that she believed allowed her employer to spy on her. She claims the app tracked where she was - using the device GPS - including how fast she was driving, even when she wasn't working.
The Register takes a look at the pros and cons of what has become a pre-selection of pre-approved devices, i.e. "CYOD" or "choose your own device."

What about |.ers? Are you bringing your own device, or saddled with the corporate choice, or avoiding pocket computing all together? Which model worked the best for you?

Re: No win. (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2015-08-27 05:38 (#JK11)

I agree. At my last employer I was issued a company cellphone. I maintained total separation of personal and professional lives, and that meant carrying two cellphones around, which I truly disliked.

Now I carry just one phone, but that means my personal and professional number is the same, and I've lost the ability to shut off the work phone on weekends. I dislike that too.

My company toyed with the Good app for ipad and Android. It was basically company email and limited document storage. It wasn't great as an app, but it did help maintain that mental separation between personal and private. Not sure what the solution is here. But I do know that when my office gave up on Blackberries, they mandated Windows phones for us (Nokia Lumia), and that was truly a lousy device and OS. At least now I get to choose the device I like, which is a Samsung Note.
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