BYOD OK for 1 in 2 Employees, But Privacy Concerns Keep Usage Low

October 4, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Data-driven | Mobile Phone | Personalization | Privacy & Security | Staffing

Some 48% of employed US adults report that they are allowed by their employers to use a personal tablet, smartphone or laptop to perform work functions, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and McAfee in an October 2012 report. 47% are disallowed, and 5% are unsure. But despite security concerns over this practice, only 4 in 10 respondents say that when using their personal device on a work network, their companies have formal bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, training or security requirements to follow. 44% report that their companies have no such policies or requirements, and 14% are unsure.

While nearly half of the respondents say they  are allowed to use a personal device to perform job functions, just 31% report that they connect to their work network, and even fewer store business records on their personal desktops and laptops (12%) or on their smartphones (3%).

Employees Concerned About Employers Accessing, Deleting Data

Privacy fears may be causing employees’ reluctance to bring their devices to work, as those who use their own smartphones or tablets for work are very concerned about their employers accessing their data, found Harris Interactive and Fiberlink in September 2012 survey results. Some 76% of survey respondents would not give their employers access to view what applications are installed on their personal devices, and 82% consider the ability to track them by location an invasion of privacy. In fact, three-quarters would not allow their companies to install a location-tracking app, even in exchange for access to corporate resources.

Fully 82% report being “extremely concerned” about their employers tracking the websites they browse on personal devices during non-work time. And, 86% appear to distrust their employers: They report being extremely concerned about unauthorized deletion of their personal pictures, music and email profiles.

Other Findings:

  • 22% of respondents to the NCSA/McAfee survey report having accessed work email using their personal smartphones, and 8% have accessed work documents or databases.
  • 5% store business contacts, 4% business records and 3% other business documents on a cloud service.

About The Data: JZ Analytics was commissioned by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and McAfee to conduct an online safety survey of 1,000 adults nationwide. A sampling of JZ Analytics’ online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the US, was invited to participate from August 31, 2012 to September 3, 2012. Slight weights were added to region, age, race, gender, party, religion and education to more accurately reflect the population.

Harris Interactive conducted a survey on behalf of Fiberlink of 2,243 US adults aged 18 or older between July 5 and 9 2012.

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