Devices and protection
Work email on personal phones, done safely
Most staff read work email on their own phones. The business needs to protect its data there without taking over a personal device.
1 min readExplainer
The short version
Staff want work email on their own phones. App protection keeps work data in a separate space you can remove without touching personal photos.
The tension
The business needs to know its email and files are protected, and that it can remove them when someone leaves. The employee does not want their employer managing their personal phone or able to erase their photos.
The usual answer: protect the app, not the phone
Microsoft 365 can apply protection to the work apps themselves, such as Outlook, Teams and OneDrive, without managing the whole phone. Typical rules:
- A PIN or face unlock to open work apps.
- No copying work content into personal apps.
- Work files stay in work apps and are not saved to the personal photo gallery.
- Selective wipe: when someone leaves, IT removes the work data from those apps. Personal content is not touched.
What staff should do
- Use the official Outlook, Teams and OneDrive apps for work, not the phone’s built-in mail app.
- Keep the phone’s operating system updated.
- Report a lost phone right away.
When company phones make more sense
For staff who handle very sensitive information, or need phones mainly for work, a company-owned phone that is fully managed is simpler for everyone.
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Tell us what you run today and what is getting in the way. We will get back to you about how we can help.