Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Should Employers Ban Smartphones?
An anonymous reader writes "Due to a concern that smartphones (and other electronic devices) could be infected with malware and used to spy on sensitive information, my employer has recently banned all personal electronic devices from their spaces. The concern comes from articles like this one. My question to slashdot readers: How reasonable is this concern? How can this sort of malware be prevented from showing up on our devices? Is there a way to educate employees about preventing this sort of thing rather than banning the devices altogether? This current reality is that people have started to rely on having their smartphones with them at all times for things such as receiving emergency calls from day cares and schools, making personal calls during normal working hours (i.e. to make doctor's appointments), accessing password managers, and scheduling calendar events."
You have asked an audience that knows just how ingrained smartphones are to our everyday lives. The last half of your question is a "given."
The burden of proof is on the employer to show that no other mitigating measure can address the risks. Summarily banning child protecting, emergency-aleviating technology, not to mention the tools with which we coordinate the rest of our lives, is truly bad form and will bite the employer more often than they know.
If you are working with sensitive documents, these people will remove the camera from your iPhone for $20:
http://www.iresq.com/iphone-camera-removal.html
Want to do the whole office? A 79 cent roll of electrical tape will do the trick.
The problems are solvable and worth solving. That management favors solutions that are simply a matter of writing policy, is in their nature, so don't sit in the dark and bitch, fix the bulb.
Would you ban laptops at work for the same reason?
Surprisingly smartphones have not been around forever and little Johnny & Sally still managed to make it thru daycare okay. If there's an EMERGENCY, outsiders can call your employer's main number and ask for you. You get paid to work, not deal with personal matters.
Anything that can breach security in a government setting is worth withholding indefinitely until a practical policy can be approved which reduces risk to near zero.
For unrelated/unregulated industries, this approach is unreliable, impractical, unprofitable, and let's face it, just plain stupid.
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
if you work in a sensitive area then expect high security
if you work for a US GOVERNMENT agency around classified information then you're probably following these rules already
if you work in a start up with cool tech you might expect something like this
if you work in your average workplace no one is going to care
I would consider them (Boeing) and others in their line of business to have about the most conservative position on such technology. Seeing as how they have pretty much given up on such rules, I don't see how any other employers expect to get away with them.
Also, if employees are going to steal proprietary data (for which I'm sure there is a company policy prohibiting said activity), sneaking a camera, USB drive or whatever onto the property in violation of rules is not going to be a deterrent.
Have gnu, will travel.
If, after 20+ years of personal computers we still can't stop people from accidentally downloading malware, good luck preventing it on smart phones and other portable devices. The problem is, and always will be, the ignorance of the user.
A lot of businesses do in fact ban laptops that aren't company-owned.
Exactly. You have a work phone number in exactly the same way that you have a work computer.
I don't really think "but daycare and school" makes for a compelling argument.
They have your work number on file, let them use it.
All the other reasons listed are ones of convienence, not necessity.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
My god, this attitude is amazing, what primitive part of the world did you grow up in? Most normal employers realize that work and private live are not so easily seperated and simply allow the two to intertwine. If I ask someone to stay late because of deadlines, can I then deny them time to make calls during office hours to arrange private things? Hell, this must be an American thing. Do you also object to people using the company printer?
Of course, normal people realize there is a line, you can print out a form, your CV is a bit touchy and you do NOT print out a thousand copies of your novel but come on!
If your tried that master slave attitude in Europe, you would find yourself soon with no employees left.
Unless there is a VERY real need for security, everyone carries a mobile phone with them in Europe. The idea you shouldn't answer a personal call during office hours is just so 19th century. Come on, join us in the future, we got cookies!
Ten to one this gti_guy doesn't have a job, lives in a trailer on government assistance and whines about all those leeches living of the state.
People good enough at their job to have one know they are valuable and companies are willing to keep them happy.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
No, it most certainly is not. Salary negotiated by both parties is indeed enough compensation because you were involved in its negotiation. The number of hours per week you owe to your employer is part of your employment contract. Beyond that contract is not covered and therefore NOT COVERED. I am happy to go above and beyond for a company I enjoy working for, but my rights are my rights.
That will be fun when one is stolen or misplaced. I am sure the company will love replacing them.