Installing a work tracking app on your personal phone

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blackjack17

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#270514 13-May-2020 09:52

Has anyone been asked by their work to install a tracking app on their personal phone to show when they are on location?

This morning we received an access code from whos on location to enter when we install the app. There was no discussion about it. A few minutes later an email from head of IT saying it wasn't spam and to direct questions to health and safety.

The website of Whos on location has very little information from an employee point of view, but it appears to be for tracking your location to allow them to know when you are on site but has no information regarding privacy.

They haven't said how they are going to collect the information and for what purpose or how long are they going to keep the information.

My biggest annoyance is the complete lack of communication from management about this and the expectation that we install an app based on a random email that looks very much like a spam email.

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#2482554 13-May-2020 09:55

I would say that is a no, and if they expect it then leave the personal phone in the car when at work and say that if they want you to use that then provide a phone for it, that you can then turn off when you leave work.

Richard rich.ms

chevrolux

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#2482556 13-May-2020 09:58

Yea eff that.

My wife's work (global company of 50,000-off employees), came out with a "wellbeing" app - then when you read in to it, its pulling location and movement data to track how "active" a person is.

It got pushed to their work supplied devices via their MDM, so the work phone now doesn't get used and she just uses Teams for making calls.

richms

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#2482559 13-May-2020 10:01

Also I have to say that it is amazing how many people still think that being provided with a work phone to take away from the place is a positive thing from an employment perspective. Its not the 90s where phones cost a lot of money to buy and operate anymore, so its a firm hell no from me to get one other than if I am on call.

Richard rich.ms

wellygary

8313 posts

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#2482562 13-May-2020 10:05

Just as aside, despite the N American voice over on their Videos, WoI are a Wellington company

Their GDPR and NZ privacy act statements are here

https://whosonlocation.com/gdpr/

https://whosonlocation.com/anz-policy/

kyhwana2

2566 posts

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#2482563 13-May-2020 10:05

Hell no, if they want to do that they can supply you with a work phone.

(As well as clear policy and expectations around usage and what tracking is happening on said work phone)

Varkk

643 posts

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#2482567 13-May-2020 10:08

Are they paying for the phone or for the account? If not they get no say as to what is installed on the phone.

blackjack17

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#2482568 13-May-2020 10:10

A big thing about the privacy statements and all that is I am not their customer, my employee is.

I have no idea what the app is or who does it work.

Is it collecting my location all the time. Is my work geo fenced and it is only recording information when inside that fence?

If I go for a run at lunch time does it detect when I leave work then turn off, then turn back on when I get back?

There is just a complete lack of communication

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Senecio

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#2482570 13-May-2020 10:12

richms:

Its not the 90s where phones cost a lot of money to buy and operate anymore, so its a firm hell no from me to get one other than if I am on call.

??? What. I bought my first phone in the 00's for $199. Now you can spend anywhere from $500 to $2,500 on a phone. Where are you coming from that they don't cost a lot of money?

To the OP. Your company have handled this very poorly. Poor communication and I don't believe they can insist on employees installing anything on their personal devices. Do you have swipe tags or electronic keys for gate/door entry? That should suffice for registering who is on site for future contact tracing if required.

Varkk

643 posts

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#2482575 13-May-2020 10:23

Senecio:

??? What. I bought my first phone in the 00's for $199. Now you can spend anywhere from $500 to $2,500 on a phone. Where are you coming from that they don't cost a lot of money?

To the OP. Your company have handled this very poorly. Poor communication and I don't believe they can insist on employees installing anything on their personal devices. Do you have swipe tags or electronic keys for gate/door entry? That should suffice for registering who is on site for future contact tracing if required.

In the early 90s you would probably pay around$4-500 for a brick phone. But then the network charge would start at $100/month for access(no calling) then calls would be $1-2 per minute. No SMS or data services available either.

freitasm

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#2482583 13-May-2020 10:28

Voice calls only for work? Get a Nokia 3310 and say it can't run any apps...

tripp

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#2482590 13-May-2020 10:43

It would be a hard no from me on my personal phone, if they want to do this then i would expect a company phone and then just leave it at work.

I can just see what will happen in the next few months "oh this person called in sick, lets make sure they are really at home, oh looks like they are at the mall, lets question them tomorrow about it".

Also some of these MDM things can pull pictures, call logs and messages off a number of different apps etc.

The place I am currently at is using their sign in/out visitor management system which staff now need to login too when onsite (seems like a logical system to use and most companies have it for H&S reasons).

lxsw20

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#2482592 13-May-2020 10:46

tripp:

Also some of these MDM things can pull pictures, call logs and messages off a number of different apps etc.

Which ones?

Kyanar

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#2482597 13-May-2020 10:49

tripp:

Also some of these MDM things can pull pictures, call logs and messages off a number of different apps etc.

No they can't. Neither Android nor iOS allows the MDM to extract the content of call logs, messages, or arbitrary app data.

(And I'm an MDM administrator).

BlueShift

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#2482606 13-May-2020 11:05

Tell them your contents insurance doesn't cover business use, so if you're expected to use the phone for work purposes, you expect work to buy you a new phone if it breaks. (My this is a slippery phone, look how slippery it is, I can barely keep hold of it...)

andrewNZ

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#2482619 13-May-2020 11:24

NO! this is not OK.

I'd be writing a very firm, well reasoned email, that includes the concerns listed already in the thread, and the fact I was seriously considering getting legal advice.

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