The ICO has published guidance which highlights the dangers of
allowing your employees to use their own devices (known as
"bring your own device" or "BYOD") for work
emails and other work related uses.
According to a recent survey, commissioned by the ICO and
carried out by YouGov, 47% of UK adults now use their personal
smartphone, laptop or tablet computer for work purposes, but less
than 30% of these users are provided with guidance on how their
personal devices should be used in this capacity (and in particular
how to look after the personal data accessed and stored on their
personal devices).
As highlighted by the ICO guidance, an employer has
significantly less control over BYODs than it would have over a
traditional corporately owned and provided device, leading to risks
over the security of the data stored and otherwise processed by
BYODs. The Data Protection Act 1998 requires that the data
controller must take appropriate technical and
