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

by
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: Troll (Score: 1)

by kwerle@pipedot.org on 2015-08-29 21:50 (#JVHY)

Umm, what? Go read the court filing yourself: http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Intermexcomplaint.pdf
Thanks for the link. It was not in the story.
Because she had to be able to receive calls from clients after-hours. She was a salesman after all. Leaving her phone somewhere (or shutting it off) would have been far more disruptive than just removing the app in-question. I don't see why you think that would be fine with everyone (she would have gotten fired even more quickly).
I have a pretty black/white view of employment and time. Either you are on the job or you're not. If you're on the job and using company equipment then that's fair. If you're not on the job, leave the equipment behind. If you think that you need to answer calls on the company phone at any hour, then you're always on the job. I don't think that's a reasonable position to take. If the company wants 24 hour response, they should hire enough people to cover the hours.

But there are plenty of technical solutions as well. You don't want to be on the job 24 hours, but still want calls? Use call forwarding to your own phone. Or just get voicemail alerts. Or hand out your personal number. This isn't rocket science.
Post Comment
Subject
Comment
Captcha
What is the 2nd digit in 8751153?