Global Study Reveals Workers Do Not Trust Employers with Their Personal Data
Workers using their own mobile devices for work remain fearful of their
employer accessing their personal information, according to a survey
commissioned by Aruba Networks.
The report features a study of over 3,000 employees around the world and
reveals that almost half of European (45%), 40 percent of Middle Eastern and 66
percent of American respondents fear the loss of personal data.
A further 34 percent of Europeans, 35 percent of Middle Easterners and more
than half of Americans (51%) claim that their IT department takes no steps to
ensure the security of corporate files and applications on their personal
devices.
These concerns are leading many employees to keep their personal devices away
from the IT department, which is jeopardizing company data. Around one in six
European workers (15%) and Middle Eastern and American employees (17%) have not
told their employers that they use a personal device for work.
Even more concerning for business is that 13 percent in Europe, 26 percent in
the Middle East and 11 percent in the USA would not report that their personal
device had been compromised, even if it leaked company data. A further 40
percent of European workers, 41 percent of Middle Eastern workers and 36 percent
of US employees would not report leaked data immediately.
This reticence is driven by negative perceptions of corporate IT departments,
particularly what the IT team might do with the employee's personal device and
data. Twenty-five percent in Europe, 31 percent in the Middle East and 45
percent in the USA worry about IT department access to their personal data,
while 18 percent in Europe and 26 percent in the Middle East fear their IT
department would interfere with their private data if they handed over their
device.
When asked how they would feel if their personal data was accessed by their
IT department, around half of all users across Europe and the Middle East
described their reaction as 'angry', and 41 percent in Europe, 47 percent in
the Middle East and 46 percent in the US would feel 'violated' by this news.
Ben Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer of Aruba Networks, said, "The research
from both sides of the Atlantic shows that employees and IT departments are
gambling with data security, but chance isn't the only factor. In short,
employees resent the power their employers now wield over their personal data,
but are equally unconcerned about keeping company data safe."
Gibson continued, "We are now well beyond the point of discussing Bring
Your Own Device as something on the horizon. It is a reality across the world
and businesses need to adopt solutions that give their employees greater privacy
for their personal data as well as exert greater network controls to ensure that
sensitive information is not leaked, without disrupting the user experience."
There is a clear disparity between what employees want and what IT
departments need. Creating a division between personal data and work data would
go a long way to solving these problems and putting employees' minds to rest.
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