Do you let your employees use personal devices for work?


You are not alone if you do. Personal cell phone use in particular is common.  These days, nearly everyone has a cell phone, so why not just let employees use the devices they already have?  It saves money, and often is easier than issuing work-specific phones. 


But what do you do if you need to access work-related text messages that are on an employee’s personal phone?  What if the employee doesn’t work for you anymore?  How do you stop a departing employee from taking a customer list or customer contact information with them when the information is stored in the “Contacts” app on their personal phone?  What happens if an employee has sensitive work-related information, like social security numbers, on their personal phone and it is stolen?  And wouldn’t you rather the phone number of your star salesperson (who is leaving for greener pastures) remain with the business, rather than the departing employee?


Challenges of personal device use for work include:


  • Ensuring Confidentiality/Non-Solicitation:  It is more difficult to ensure that business information stays confidential, and harder to argue that the business takes confidentiality seriously, if employees can access it on personal devices.  This can be a significant issue where an employee leaves, takes sensitive information, and you want to argue that the employee breached an NDA or misappropriated trade secrets.  It also is hard to argue that a former employee used business information to solicit your customers if customers had the former employee’s personal phone number and called them instead of you.
  • Offboarding Exiting Employees:  When an employee separates from employment, best practice is to confirm that the employee has returned all company information and is not taking any with them.  That is more difficult to do if company information is intermingled with personal data on a personal device, like contacts on a cell phone.
  • Collecting Documents When Disputes Arise:  Lawsuits can and do happen, and when they do, your business has an obligation to preserve and collect potentially relevant evidence.  This is more difficult to do when an employee has evidence (such as text messages) on a personal phone.


What can you do to address these issues and help protect your business information?


  • Issue work-specific devices to your employees.  There is a cost associated with that, but it is likely to pay big dividends in the long run.  Work profiles (Android), “Containers” (iPhone), and/or a forwarded business line may be alternatives as well, though the implementation of each of these requires varying levels of technical ability.
  • Have confidentiality policies in your handbook.  This includes policies that require employees to return all company information when they separate from employment.
  • Adopt IT protocols designed to prevent employees from accessing or removing information without authorization.  Examples include prohibiting the use of thumb/jump drives and restricting employee access to personal email accounts. 


As always, feel free to reach out to Idaho Employment Lawyers if you have any questions or require our assistance!  Please contact us at (208) 901-3912 or at [email protected].  Similarly, you can visit our website at idemploymentlawyers.com or click on the link below to learn more.