More and more organizations around the world allow employees to use their own mobile devices to work so they can access company data from anywhere at any time on any device. The phenomenon BYOD began to gain ground around 2007, when executives and board members carried the first personal wearable devices (smartphones and tablets) in the workplace. Since then, the BYOD trend has gained traction as employees began to have the same flexibility requirements and employers saw an increase in productivity after allowing employees to use mobile devices both at work and at work. home.
The behavior of employees and employers
Cisco recently revealed that 95% of IT-related people and business executives surveyed in the United States have reported that businesses allow employees to have their own devices somehow. Research continues and mentions the desire of employees to use their favorite device anywhere, and the ability to conduct personal and professional activities at any time as one of the top reasons that BYOD policy has such a resonance. Executives seem excited to use their personal devices at their workplace, with a percentage greater than 33% of workers aged between 20 and 29, stating that they will not accept any rule that will ban BYOD.
Despite years of rampant BYOD proliferation, some employers are beginning to question the existence of a sustainable economic benefit. For example, Gartner's technology analysis states that while BYOD can reduce costs, it typically does not. Gartner argues as follows: “As enterprises appear to be giving more capabilities to mobile devices, however, the cost of software, των υποδομών, της τεχνικής υποστήριξης και των σχετικών υπηρεσιών θα αυξάνεται με την πάροδο του χρόνου.”
On the other hand, some companies argue that implementing a BYOD policy can save businesses a lot money and that they have the means to support this. For example, VMware claims to have saved $2.000.000 by switching to a BYOD policy that required employees to purchase their own devices and rely on their own mobile providers for customer support.
Do the IT department of the company need to play the role of a "bad" police officer?
Despite the cost-saving potential offered by BYOD, many lawyers fear that by allowing employees to use personal devices for corporate purposes, this will lead to an increase in the challenges of privacy, property and security. This view often puts them in an enviable position to be the only ones who disagree with other executives trying to save money by setting up an BYOD approach.
In fact, alternative approaches have many similar issues to BYOD, so the risks and benefits of any portable approach have to be taken into account. For example, employers who do not allow employees to use their personal devices for their work often provide proprietary systems as an alternative. It is no surprise that workers almost always use these devices for personal and business reasons (whether or not they are allowed), thus opening up many of the same legal issues for data security and risks.
A policy with corporate devices can reduce the risk of privacy-based objections when access to them and their content is required by the employer. However, these risks associated with data loss and theft are not eliminated irrespective of the ownership of the device. This means that any further gradual reduction in the risks of each employer's employer policy must be weighed against the amount of money that could have been saved by applying a BYOD policy. In other words, the legal counsel must understand that ownership of the device (employee vs. employer) is not the only factor to be taken into account when determining a portable device policy.
Η σημερινή πραγματικότητα έγκειται στο γεγονός ότι οι εργαζόμενοι αναμένουν να μπορούν να χρησιμοποιούν τις φορητές συσκευές για επαγγελματική και προσωπική χρήση, ανεξάρτητα από το αν η συσκευή ανήκει στον εργοδότη ή τον εργαζόμενο. Ομοίως, πολλοί εργοδότες πιστεύουν ότι παρέχοντας στους εργαζομένους την ευελιξία της χρήσης των φορητών συσκευών για επαγγελματική και προσωπική χρήση αυξάνουν την παραγωγικότητα των εργαζομένων. Ευτυχώς για τους νομικούς συμβούλους, οι νέες φορητές technologies σε συνδυασμό με εσωτερικές πολιτικές από τους οργανισμούς τους παρέχουν την ευελιξία να εφαρμόσουν την φορητή προσέγγιση που νομίζουν ότι είναι πιο οικονομική, χωρίς να τεθούν σε κίνδυνο. Με άλλα λόγια, ο νομικός σύμβουλος έχει τη δυνατότητα να γίνει μέρος της λύσης του οργανισμού και να σταματήσει να θεωρείται ο «κακός» αστυνομικός όταν πρόκειται να συζητηθεί η εφαρμογή μιας στρατηγικής που αφορά τις φορητές συσκευές.
Making the beginning
Although decisions about when and how to develop mobile devices are usually of secondary importance to IT departments, dealing with the consequences of using portable devices is usually left to the legal counsel. Many times these problems could have been avoided or at least minimized by the proper planning and the contribution of the legal department.
Unfortunately, the legal department is often overlooked as it is not considered part of the decisions related to investment in technology. This is why the legal counsel should actively seek to understand and address the potential risks and costs associated with the use of portable devices as soon as possible.
