When signing on to a new job, one may be offered a work phone as a perk. In fact, some jobs may even try to make things easier for their employers by offering employees a brand new phone they can use as both their work and personal device.
While this may sound good on the surface, TikTok user Ashley (@ashley.houghton) says this isn’t as good of an idea as one might think.
In a video with over 995,000 views as of Friday, Ashley says that she recently saw a video talking about the various ways companies spy on their employees. It’s unclear which video she’s responding to, but this recent and popular video on the subject from TikTok user Erika (@corporateluxe) seems to fit the description.
Using this as a jumping-off point, Ashley says she recently started at a new company where she was given a brand new iPhone 15 to be her work phone. Not only that, but the company even offered to merge her work and personal phone into one device. Ashley did not do it.
“My immediate answer was ‘absolutely not,’” she recounts. “‘I will have the iPhone 15 to be the work phone, and I just won’t use it for my personal use,’ and that was totally OK with me.”
While the IT person was more than happy to oblige, Ashley says he told her she was one of only a few people in the office who had not merged their work and personal phones. Although Ashley makes no direct claims about her company spying on her, she says the fear of this alone is enough to dissuade her from ever merging a company and personal phone.
“That is so weird to me, to have your work phone and your personal phone be completely meshed together as if they’re not already spying on you through your computer and knowing when you’re active and things like that,” she states. “But to have your personal text messages, your personal images, your personal social media, all be integrated onto one phone that the company owns?…I don’t know why anyone would want to have that.”
Ashley continues that when she asks others why they would want their work and personal phones merged, she is told that people like the convenience, or that they simply want the new phone. These reasons are not enough for her.
“There is no way you could even pay me to blend my personal phone and my work phone,” she declares.
Some concerns about employer spying are valid. As noted by Ines Kagubare writing for The Hill, companies have the legal right to track and monitor company cell phones.
@ashley.houghton You couldn’t pay me to have a work phone and personal phone combined #corporate #corporatelife #workphone #spying #privacy #company #workforce ♬ original sound – Ashley
“Employers can use a variety of spyware to monitor their employees…These spywares can look into phone call history, text messages, emails and browsing history,” the article reads. Later, Kagubare notes, “Employers can also track if employees are using their time efficiently and not slacking off on the job.”
Numerous users have also shared their workplace spying stories. For example, previously, users have gone viral for discussing how work on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other software can be monitored by bosses.
In the comments section of Ashley’s video, users shared their thoughts on personal and company phones.
“IT can see everything you do on a company owned device. *Everything*,” a user wrote.
“The work phone stays on the work desk,” added another.
“They have admin rights to your phone. I would absolutely never,” detailed a third. “I’m fine carrying two phones. Plus it’s so much easier to get away from work.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Ashley via Instagram direct message.