Using personal phone for work reasons

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Work don't provide us with phones, and in general do not expect us to use personal phones for phone calls. However they do expect us to use them for things like, taking photos of meeting flip charts that sort of thing.

I'm quite new and this is the first job I've had since 2008 where a phone hasn't been provided. I don't really mind not having a phone, however I do mind using my personal phone for work. This is because I've always worked in the public sector and have been subject to a number of FOIs (it's not really because of me, just quite common in the role I do). Also the roles are very external facing so I've always had a strict boundary about giving out my number because contacts have called at unsocial times. Also I was once harassed by someone and had to change my number. Hence the need for a non personal phone previously and it does apply now, but they don't want to provide a phone so fine.

That's less of an issue in this job, they don't expect me to hand out my number to anyone, by AIBU that if they want me to use a phone for work, they should provide it? Or am I being weird?

Incidentally, perfectly happy to use it to message my boss to say my computer won't boot up on a WFH day or whatever, just not for the actual doing of work. (name change as about work)

Sounds like you are not using/expecting to use your phone for anything other than taking notes which isn’t really what I would consider to be problematic.
Why can’t they circulate presentations over email?

Just to take odd photos, no they aren’t going to provide a phone and pay a contract for that. It’s fair enough

It's not presentations, it's hand written stuff that has to be captured

Taking a photo, emailing it your work email address perhaps via a hotmail or googlemail account uniquely for that purpose, seems fine to me. It does not involve your phone number being available at work (other than emergency contact maybe), which I agree is not OK.

My work often requires us to "authenticate" using a phone. Pisses me off hugely as they don't provide the phone. But I work in a university & universities are generally on the breadline & expect academics to provide their own computers, phones, etc.

Yeah, I get that, but it's quite a frequent thing. Usually weekly, partly the job and partly cos there are team members who like working this way. They love getting a flip chart out and brainstorming but they are senior and expect someone else to handle the admin. I'd happily just do everything on my laptop. Why should I use my personal phone to suit their work preferences?

If they want you to use a phone on any kind of regular basis, they should provide one. Suppose you didn't have a smartphone? More and more people are reverting to old style Nokias.

If they’re not expecting you to use your phone for anything but taking photos of flip charts etc, then of course they’re not going to provide a work phone. If you were being asked to use it for logging into work emails or making and receiving calls, that would be different, but I wouldn’t worry about photographing a flip chart with my own phone any more than I’d worry about taking notes with my own pen.

But if they want me to do that on a regular basis, surely easier to provide the phone and then circumvent the whole need to use Gmail etc (which we would have to do because no work email on personal phones)?

I've not had a work phone in about a decade, usually just an app to charge calls to but in my current role I connect my phone to Microsoft phone link and that takes care of it

But my work provides pens. They don't expect me to use my own pen. Also pens don't have ongoing costs associated with the transference of data.

Absolutely reasonable of them not to provide a phone, I happily don't expect them to (also no access to work emails on personal phone anyway). But also reasonable of me not to use my personal phone for work I feel.

Why are you posting under different names, it's confusing!

Sounds like the office needs a tablet to take these photos and email them to.everyone who is in the meeting.

However, some of your reluctance I think.comes.from having been a.public sector employee. In normal.work situations a small.use of your mobile is to be expected. I suspect you also use a little office time to .occasionally to reply to private messages as your mobiles aren't banned at work. These little things swing in roundabouts.

We're not allowed to do anything like that. V strict rules around not accessing teams or emails on personal phones. They don't provide phones, they also don't provide any way to use personal phones for work purposes, other than things like this.

I assume you then email these pics to yourself using your private address?

I think they are being daft because the above means company info is being shared through devices and emails that are not protected by the company ani-virus software and if you were to lose your private phone someone could also access that info.

Not to mention that if you have clients and their data appears in this content you company is breaching GDPR rules by allowing to be transferred into a private phone.

They should provide you with a work phone.

No, still work in public sector. But in my private sector experience any use of personal phone is reimbursed. Which it isn't here.

It stems from being uncomfortable holding work data on my personal phone having been the subject of several foi requests, which could still apply as still in public sector.

That’s why our work (government) would have to provide one, but they wouldn’t expect staff without a phone to do that. All managers have one, I do have one and I’d use it to take photos etc, but all my team have my personal number as I cba having two phones constantly charged and monitoring. If it means I get early morning messages (hardly any staff call now) then that’s my fault for not using work phone.

Yes, this is exactly it. They don't do being your own device or similar so we have to email via personal email accounts. To be fair I've not seen client data within images, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

If this was a once a year thing, I'd maybe just overlook it, but it's actually pretty regular.

I think it's such little use, but regular so can be anticipated, that an office tablet should therefore be used for it. Sounds like it will get quite a bit of use if this brainstorming is a common way of working.

I think part of the issue is I am surprised my also government employer don't feel the same.

I've come from somewhere which is most analogous to local government to the civil service. I'm amazed they are ok with this. I'm very happy not to have a phone, I'm not happy using my personal mobile to be emailing stuff around.

As far as I'm concerned, if it's required to use a mobile phone or other technology for work, work provides it.

I'm not subsidising them to the tune of fifty quid plus for a phone (as it'll be for emails/photos/apps) or several hundred quid for a laptop.

It's taking a few pictures for goodness sake. I don't understand the fuss??

I'd be pointing out how it breaches data protection rules and also leaves them open to trojans if you are emailing things in that are then used at work.

Maybe you could borrow someone's old not very smart phone and point out that it doesn't have a camera so someone else will need to take photos and email you???

Put your concerns in writing and ask them to circumvent this by supplying a basic tablet with a camera.

I've managed to swerve it so far, but am well into 'oh my camera is not very good' territory.

I've seen a few (now ex) colleagues get into trouble because of what's come out in an FOI (and nothing malicious they were just very naive and didn't get it and said silly things) and I've been fastidious about that over the years it just seems extremely counter intuitive to start emailing around stuff from my personal phone. Also the other way around would be a disciplinary offence.

Aside from which I've been around long enough to see when senior people get given iPads / phones etc and seem to think that's a perk, not part of the job. My senior iPad possessing person can take photos of flipcharts, not me.