My old job tried this w/ my personal cell phone (for logging in). I told them where to go with that. Then they threatened a layoff, so I had to relent while I looked for another job. Turns out my phone was too old to support the software.
They can’t force me to upgrade and they were too cheap to buy me a new phone. They found a work around real quick as I couldn’t do my job and they had to double me up w/ a coworker (OT). less then 24hrs later I was back on the network. And quit a few months later.
IT people were beside themselves, they were “you don’t upgrade your phone ever new release” I was like F that noise I climb antenna’s for a living, at no point to I need the latest and greatest to be an antenna monkey.
I guess people here just can’t grasp why this is different when it’s the federal fucking government and not their shitty IT job
Don’t use the work phone as your personal phone
This. Too many people view work devices as “Free [ipad, laptop], bro!” and use it for all sorts of personal stuff.
It’s not yours. The company can take it at any time, or if remotely managed, view device contents at any time. If any of that material is against company policy or illegal, you’re probably gonna be disciplined or fired.
For most it’s probably NBD. Corporate won’t care if you’re just some mid-level lackey watching Netflix on the company device.
It’s worse than that. This app tracks your location through a third party non-government company. If you have a location sensitive government job like being a soldier near the middle east this app is a national security issue.
Yeah ok. So in this country means you are resigning and good luck finding another job
Or just have two phones; one for work that’s off when you’re off, and your private phone.
that’s off when you’re off
From the stories I’ve read, that’s a surefire way to get fired.
Unless you have agreed to be available outside of office hours and then turn it off, that’s unlikely to happen.
None of the the employees who spoke to WIRED say they are actively using the app. “Have not looked at it,” a Department of Labor employee tells WIRED. “Will not look at it.”
The only sane approach to propaganda
i hate this admonistration, hate the app but these are wprk phones. what are people expecting here?
I’m expecting the federal government to not do shit like this
I might consider agreeing with you, except the app is full of third-party spyware and for-profit tracking software that’s operated by foreign companies.
Leave it at the office then.
The problem is that it’s at the office in the first place.
It creates a massive hole in IT security and allows attack vectors to get into government networks and files.
It’s like driving your brand new car into a busy part of town, leaving the keys in the ignition, leaving the door open, and stepping away for hours. And then doing it again the next day, and the day after that, even after each car has been stolen.
Those are all problems for the employer.
In this case its the US government so it ends up being a lot of people’s problem, but in the context of the employer and employee, its all on the employer.
If they screw up the work phone with their requirements, its theirs. If that compromises their IT security, that is also theirs.
None of that makes a lick of difference to the employee unless they use their own device or carry their work phone around outside of working hours.
The reflecting pool was the administration’s fuckup, and they aren’t the ones taking the blame for it. Same here, they will scapegoat others. Our great leaders can never be wrong.
It’s like that except it’s a company car and they’re making you do it.
oh if i wasnt clear, its bad, its stupid, its a fucking mess but you cant unustall work apps from your work phone. congressneeds to step in
So like normal work phones
Expect better??
“Government devices typically include preinstalled apps that provide value to government employees’ day-to-day work.”
They should go back to doing that instead then.
Can’t get it off their…work phones.
Probably also can’t get their work email and Teams and whatever else is on there off their work phones. Because they’re work phones. If you’re not on, put your work phone in a shoe box far from where you sit and hang out. faraday bag, even better.
Wired, c’mon. Only a genuine idiot would use a work phone as a personal phone. Anyone complaining about this gets what they deserve.
You’re missing the point. This app is written by outside, for-profit companies who don’t care about data security. And the app is so full of security holes that it means work email and work chat may be skimmed by people outside the organization.
This isn’t a case of “don’t use your work phone for personal stuff.”
This is a case of e.g. “foreign criminal organizations can potentially steal American Social Security databases.”
These people literally give away classified documents to friends as party favors. No one that isn’t an idiot thinks they’re doing anything other than undermining the US in every thing they do. It’s literally part of Peter Thiel’s goal, to pump and dump the whole country. It’s been pump for too long, so they’ll crash it, buy cheap, and then act like kings.
Not every government employee is a Trump stooge.
I wasn’t talking about government employees. I was talking about the elected officials :)
And this article is about federal employees
And Federal Devices. If those devices aren’t secure, that’s not the employee’s problem.
It is when they work in intelligence and someone can find out and kidnap or kill their family to threaten them.
“It’s shooting pure unadulterated propaganda into our veins,” says another government employee. “Maybe Fox’s editorial standards are too high.”
Necessity is the mother of invention, I suppose.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to its lowest point during his two presidencies, according to a new poll.
A poll from the American Research Group, out Monday, found that approval for Trump stands at 30%, the lowest figure recorded across both of his terms. It is a 1 percentage point drop from May, when 31% of Americans were in support of the president’s performance.
Except rank and file government employees hate him too. Outside of some law enforcement departments, he is very very underwater with federal employees.
Woops left my phone somewhere.
Yes… this is how Mobile Device Management works for every company. The company determines which apps you can have on your phone, and which are required. It’s literally how work phones are handled by companies worldwide.
Yeah, but normally the MDM is used to prevent security breaches. Not create them.
Sure, but either way, it’s not the employee’s problem.
One mans security breach is another mans safety (surveillance) feature
