Has anyone had an employer monitor communication on their personal cell phone?

25 Comments

1. AnonymousAugust 19,2022 at 1:36AM UTC

   Personal phone?? Something is seriously wrong here!!!

2. AnonymousAugust 19,2022 at 1:51AM UTC

   Wtf? If this is your personal cell that you pay for have a professional remove all unwanted software and access points from your phone.

   This is seriously against the law.

3. AnonymousAugust 19,2022 at 12:43PM UTC

   It may actually not be illegal. This is the slippery slope that is the legal system (in the US). Most laws are 10-15 years behind the technology capabilities so companies and bad actors can and will do things that seem like they should be illegal but aren't. Usually because the laws haven't been written yet or because the lawyers/lawmakers haven't thought of it yet.

4. AyianAugust 20,2022 at 3:53PM UTC

   No need to pay a professional - back up your data and restore the phone to factory settings. If there was additional software, it is now gone and you have the opportunity to declutter your device be deciding what comes back and what stays gone.

   Also, due to government agencies, there may be cameras in the building or a text data extraction at government to cell service level. There's more than one way to gain access.

5. Kristie WhiteAugust 19,2022 at 3:04AM UTC

   This needs a bit more investigation. For example, the news for the last several months has been full of the government's legal rights to text messages when an investigation is underway. So there is the possibility that text messages on your phone are not wholly owned by you. The questions that need to be answered are:

   What type of government agency is this? Is it related to Defense, Finance, etc. or something where monitoring communications might be common?

   Who's paying for the phone - is your personal phone or a government issued phone? The owner of the contract owns the data. Also - if it is a government issued phone - you should not be sending personal text messages on it to begin with, you should use your personal phone. if it is your phone, you should have signed some type of permission authorizing the agency to monitor your phone and probably required installation of some software on your personal phone that the government issued phone would already have had installed.

   Who is quoting the content of your text messages and in what context? Is it a person? A manager? Is it used in a threatening manner? Is it publicly distributed?

   These questions need to be answered before you know who owns the data on the phone.

6. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 2:34PM UTC

   It is my personal cell phone. I paid for it and the service. I do not get any assistance from my employer on any of it. Yes, it is my supervisor within the confines of my office.

7. Alice StokerAugust 20,2022 at 2:40PM UTC

   I have communicated work-related information to him on it. But the information that is being quoted was not sent to him... It was to another personal friend who has nothing to do with my workplace. At first, I thought it was just the one person, but it seems to be my texts overall as I realized it was not just that one person.

8. Kristie WhiteAugust 21,2022 at 2:55PM UTC

   Ok, then I would go to HR. There are legal liability questions here, esp invasion of privacy as well as malware. Even IF the government agency is allowed to monitor your texts, your personal data is private and he is using it to manipulate you by telling you he knows. The creepiness and invasion is in this individual. He may be a hacker and this is stalking behavior. You need to find out and fast.

9. AnonymousAugust 19,2022 at 9:22AM UTC

   If you answer any work related calls or talk to a coworker about work and if it is ever investigated it can be foiable or collected for that purpose. It depends on your job role and how sensitive your job is. You probably signed some legal jargon allowing this but it was so carefully crafted to not come across that way to not realize what you signed up for. I agree with others, if you can have a separate phone you only use for work. I wouldn’t keep my personal phone in the same vicinity as my work devices bc now a days two phones can be nearby and synch your data without you even knowing….food for thought

10. AnonymousAugust 19,2022 at 2:24PM UTC

    The EEOC and Labor department have levied serious fines and determined settlements against companies who were found guilty if this behavior.

11. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 5:15PM UTC

    But government agencies are a different animal altogether. What is restricted in private business is sometimes allowed within government.

12. Liz MilneAugust 20,2022 at 10:04PM UTC

    If it's allowed, it should be explained to you on starting the job, and - to protect their behinds - they should have obtained a signature stating that OP knows and understands what's going on? Which is clearly not the case!

13. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 1:03PM UTC

    Big Brother

14. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 1:26PM UTC

    Don't give your personal #/info for anything work related. Check your work email regularly for anything you might need to know about out of office. Respect your own boundaries and others will too. Also read the fine print of job offer.

15. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 3:52PM UTC

    Do you use their WiFi? I would turn off wifi and Bluetooth when entering the building to be sure you are only using your cell service.

16. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 5:39PM UTC

    This is extremely disturbing.

17. Crystal HowellAugust 20,2022 at 8:15PM UTC

    Contact HR, violation of privacy. The government has eyes and ears, people that work there think they are privileged to use their equitpment. Report it, record first.

18. AnonymousAugust 20,2022 at 8:52PM UTC

    HR is there to protect the company, not me.

19. Liz MilneAugust 20,2022 at 10:03PM UTC

    Never mind HR, I'd be calling the police, tbh...

    Okay, maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but unless you've given the company permission to monitor your communications I'm *fairly* sure that's a federal crime, if you're in the State, and a data/ privacy breach in the UK...

    If you have a company app, that might be how they're accessing your info: change permissions or simply delete the app and refuse to reinstall it until they explain exactly why they need to view your private info...

20. AnonymousAugust 21,2022 at 12:40AM UTC

    Why don’t you text your boss and ask them?

    This is so flagrantly creepy there must be an explanation. Not a good one,, but something. In addition, whomever at your employer quoted your private text should promptly get a text from you, also sent to the original text recipient, stating “ Today, the contents of what I thought was a private text between us was quoted to me by my employer, XYZ. I had no idea our communication was monitored so wanted to let you know right away. “. Keep a log of these instances and if you are in any way a protected class, contact the local civil rights organization.

21. Julie HumbirdAugust 21,2022 at 3:49PM UTC

    What have they installed on your phone?

22. AnonymousAugust 21,2022 at 7:03PM UTC

    Agreed, take your phone to the phone store and ask for help identifying any unusual programs.

23. Christi LopezAugust 22,2022 at 2:14PM UTC

    State worker here. This is the reason why my personal cell phone is kept "off network." I COULD use my personal cell phone to directly access my work Microsoft account, but that means the entirety of my personal phone is open to our technology department (and they make it very clear that is the case upfront). No thanks. If I need to check my work email on my cell phone, I access it through the web portal only.

24. AnonymousAugust 22,2022 at 9:27PM UTC

    Are you accessing the internet thru the government agency's network? If so, you may be signing away certain "rights" when you use their network.

    Personally, I do not use my department's network for that reason. The department literally has the right to monitor the traffic on their network.

25. AnonymousAugust 23,2022 at 9:43PM UTC

    I don't have the capability to access any work-related info on my phone, but have used to guest wifi. I am now not only turning off wifi before I walk in the building, but shutting off my phone. I have done a little research though, and it appears that you can get access to another person texts if you have their phone number (I haven't tried it).