To refuse use of personal mobile for work

[Petal12]

Hi all, work are intending on introducing multi factor authentication soon. To enter our system we will now need to verify this by authorising on an app we have been told is to be installed on our personal mobile phones. I used to believe in give and take but the last few years have shown the feeling is not mutual and you are simply a number to be used for as long as useful. I like to think I’m not a petty person but can’t get past this. My main bug bear is that I’ve not been asked, just told! Few other points so as not to drip feed

• Not allowed to log personal devices into the

work WiFi. Why should I use my paid for data to facilitate this? No matter how little it may use. If they do allow me to use the work WiFi, does that mean the internet policy applies when using my phone in breaks i.e I can’t use any number of sites they deem inappropriate?

• My iphone is quite old and has storage issues every week. I would have to delete other apps that I actually use to allow this google authenticator to download.
• It’s another point of them being cheap and cutting corners.
• What if I lose/break my phone?

I’m sure there’s probably security issues that I’ve likely not thought of as well. AIBU?

There are plenty of ways to annoy users with IT policies.

Don't worry, I'm working on plenty more.

Employers have no right to insist you use your personal phone for work.
That being said, the company I work for offers a 10% discount on our cell phone bills to those of us who choose to use our personal phones for work. They have no control over the use of our phones or the content we choose to access.
Perhaps, you could suggest this to the poers that be at your place of employment.

There's a middle ground where you can install the voip softphone onto a personal phone so people can call you without needing your personal number.

Can that be disabled so clients can't contact you outside of office hours? I remember a few years ago a customer asking for my mobile number and getting the arse when I said

We were told to forward our desk phones to our mobiles when lockdown started. A lot of people did, but I wouldn't as I thought it was a cheek as it meant I'd have to turn my phone down from 5pm. Customers can email me and if it's important enough we can have a Teams call, if not they can wait.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

There's a middle ground where you can install the voip softphone onto a personal phone so people can call you without needing your personal number.

Can that be disabled so clients can't contact you outside of office hours? I remember a few years ago a customer asking for my mobile number and getting the arse when I said

We were told to forward our desk phones to our mobiles when lockdown started. A lot of people did, but I wouldn't as I thought it was a cheek as it meant I'd have to turn my phone down from 5pm. Customers can email me and if it's important enough we can have a Teams call, if not they can wait.

You can put it on Do Not Disturb - sometime you can set it to only be available during office hours.

Few people at work have my mobile number. That's for absolute emergencies.

But they can contact me via VOIP

Can that be disabled so clients can't contact you outside of office hours? I remember a few years ago a customer asking for my mobile number and getting the arse when I said

I can't speak for all systems. 3cx (last one I fully administered) was pretty comprehensive. You could set OOH, diverts, hunt groups, pickup groups, custom messages for different times as well as plumb it into landline numbers for geographical convenience.

Our work do this too and I also have a number generating app for other software. No office phone or alternative offered.

So they’ve offered an alternative and you’re still not happy? Am I missing something?

Thanks @cakeorwine and @DGRossetti. If work ever go down that route (and I don't think they will), I would be expecting a contribution towards my mobile bill.

@SergeiL

Goodness me! Yes let’s all carry two phones - two phones that will stay in the world forever - because we refuse to install an app!

I was told I had to get a work mobile and I refused. I don’t want to carry two phones and I am plenty grown up enough to separate work and home.

Perhaps they could think of a different way that doesn't involve a phone at all!

I had this with some lecturing I do at a university part time. They wanted me (and all lecturers) to download an app on my phone to take the student attendance register. Its clearly a huge potential breach of data protection laws and has obvious risks if the phone is stolen or hacked. But even more mundanely, I bought a new phone which proved to be faulty and had to return it recently. I deleted all information on it but I don't know how easy it is to retrieve it if a person were so intended, particularly if its sold onto a third party as a reconditioned phone.

I didn't actually download the app and its caused mild disaproval and more work (unpaid) on my part, but I think the whole idea very badly thought out.

but I think the whole idea very badly thought out.

Well, yes. But don't just blame IT for that ....