To consider this request beyond unreasonable?

[luckylucky24]

DH has just text me to say his work have asked him to install an app that gives them access to his photos, browsing data and location.
His phones is full of pictures of our kids, some in the bath etc. This aside I feel this is a huge invasion of privacy. Surely the don't have a leg to stand on? Can they enforce this?

I would definitely and firmly refuse. If work want this sort of access they need to supply a dedicated work phone. What next? Bugs in your house?

Why are they requesting this?

If it's a legit app I agree with Sparechange - pretty standard and no need to be paranoid. He could try to talk to the app developers if he has privacy concerns.

bingles

I don't think you understand how apps work
They aren't asking for access to his photos. They are asking him to use an app which requires compatibility with his photos to work

There are lots of them - I've given the example of an expenses uploading one.
There are others that let you remotely sign documents, and others for journey and workload planning

OP, he needs to find out what the app is before you both go off the deep end about what could be a total non-event

Oh, x-post. I would absolutely refuse. It's his personal phone. He can access his emails in other ways I assume. Mobile site, desktop pc etc etc

Definitely refuse this. If they want to install this on a works phone they provide to him and pay bills for then fair enough but absolutely no way should this be installed on a personal phone.

Are they asking everyone or just him?

Aside from he privacy issue, I wouldn't want to go down the route of having work emails on my personal phone anyway. Don't blur the boundaries.

Fuck that - I don't take work e-mails on my phone. The key phrase is my phone - when they start paying, maybe.

You might find that same app would have "remote wipe" for the phone -- it's why I no longer have work email on my phone.

Absolutely no way!

They have no right at all to ask this as it's his personal phone.

My DP has a work phone, that is paid for by his company as he is a mobile engineer. In that scenario then yeah, it's company property, and they can ask what they like. (still don't like the tracking and don't agree with it, basically saying you can't trust your employees )

But in your DHs situation, then it's a big fat hell no!

Out of interest, what is the app ? Is it "Good" ?

Lotus, it is an email app apparently but also gives them access to various stuff. Not sure why they need it when they can get their emails on their phones already.

Sounds odd. Does he ever need to access work emails outside of work?

If he does access work emails outside of work, is it more about them protecting their confidential information, rather than the other way round?

An app which needs access to the filesystem on the phone (say to store emails / files) will get access to everything, it's not possible to have an app which doesn't. It's not an intentionally malicious thing by the company I'm sure, just the nature of the email app.

Still, doesn't mean there's any reason to agree.

My answer would be no way. If they want to put apps on staff members phones then they need to provide those phones.

Oh and I don't like the fact that almost every app has this as standard.

I sound paranoid but I fucking hate it with a passion.

I won't have voice activated things in the house either (fuck off Alexa) because they can be hacked, they can be used for all sorts of nefarious purposes, even if it's "just" listening to you to sell you stuff.

It's the thin end of a very fucking large wedge, and I am shocked that people have embraced listening devices in their cars and homes.

What's the app?
It should be pretty easy to find out why they need the various features

Access to photos means he can attach photos to an email, for example
It absolutely doesn't mean anyone at work or at the app company can look at the photos on his phone though! That's not how apps work

An email app can be more secure than just the main mail app. It can require an extra layer of authentication like a password, so if someone leaves their phone unlocked, a thief can't access work email

Has he anything in his contract about accessing work email outside the office? If not, then refuse.
An app installed on any phone can cause all sorts of privacy issues.
Its a personal phone. He should refuse.

Apart from anything else, if the company is serious about their security then they will want to be able to delete all the work emails if he looses or misplaces his phone. What that means in practice is the phone is wiped remotely, and he will loose all his photos etc. all gone.

Refuse.

No idea what the app is. DH is now saying he has said no and they have accepted it but seem annoyed. Apparently they are restricting emails outside of the work system to this app so DH wont be able to answer emails when not at work. Bloody great! He spent the first two weeks of his paternity constantly replying to emails! They do not pay enough for that.

Refuse unless they supply and pay for a phone. I have a personal phone, then a work supplied mobile for accessing work emails, calling in remotely to telecons etc, the 2 are not mixed use.

I get that it will make emails more secure but he doesn't exactly work at MI5. He has no reason to access emails offsite other than he expected to do so but not paid for the extra time he puts in.

He spent the first two weeks of his paternity constantly replying to emails! They do not pay enough for that.

Excellent.

Re: harassing him when he is off sick/on leave, has he talked to HR about that?

OP sounds like a win win if refusing means he can't do work email out of hours