Skip to main content
SolarWinds MSP
  • Login
  • Support
  • Partnerships
    • Partnerships Overview
    • Solution Provider Program
    • Technology Alliance Program
    • Distributor Program
SolarWinds MSP
  • Products
    • SolarWinds N-central Automate what you need. Tackle complex networks. Try this remote monitoring and management solution built to help maximize efficiency and scale.
    • SolarWinds RMM Start fast. Grow at your own pace. Try this powerful but simple remote monitoring and management solution.
    • SolarWinds EDR Defend against ransomware, zero-day attacks, and evolving online threats with Endpoint Detection and Response
    • SolarWinds Backup Manage data protection for servers, workstations applications, documents and Microsoft 365 from one SaaS dashboard.
    • Mail Protection & Archiving Protect users from email threats and downtime.
    • Password Management Easily adopt and demonstrate best practice password and documentation management workflows.
      • Passportal Demo
    • PSA & Ticketing Manage ticketing, reporting, and billing to increase helpdesk efficiency.
    • Remote Support Help support customers and their devices with remote support tools designed to be fast and powerful.
  • Solutions

    I'm looking for...

    • Security Solutions
    • Monitoring Solutions
    • Efficiency Solutions
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Webcasts & Events
    • Ask the N-central Experts
    • Daily Live Demos
    • RMM Foundations Training
    • Upcoming Events
    • Upcoming Webcasts
    • Resource Center
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Resource Library
      • Case Studies
      • Product Information
      • eBooks
      • White Papers
      • Infographics
    • SolarWinds MSP Free Tools
    • GDPR Resource Center
    • Security Resource Center
    • MSP Institute Webinar Series
    • MSP Advice Project
  • About
    • Contact
    • Customer Success
    • Worldwide sales and support
    • Careers
    • Awards and Recognition
    • Get A Quote
    • Newsroom
      • Press Releases
      • In The News
      • Media Contacts
      • COVID-19 Response
    • Leadership Team
    • Legal
      • Cookie Policy
      • Privacy Notice
      • Software Services Agreement
      • Terms of Use
      • Backup Fair Use Policy
    • Security
      • SolarWinds Security Statement
      • Vendor Data Protection Requirements
    • Support
  • IT Departments
  • Contact Sales
    • Get A Quote
    • General Inquiry
  • TRY NOW
    • SolarWinds RMM
    • SolarWinds Backup
    • MSP Manager
    • SolarWinds Passportal
    • SolarWinds N-central
    • SolarWinds Mail Assure
    • SolarWinds Risk Intelligence
    • SolarWinds Take Control
  • Request a Quote
  • Try Now
    • SolarWinds RMM
    • SolarWinds N-central
    • SolarWinds Backup
    • MSP Manager
    • SolarWinds Mail Assure
    • SolarWinds Passportal
    • SolarWinds Risk Intelligence
    • SolarWinds Take Control
Request quote
Filter Blogs
  • Filter by:
  • MSP Business
    • Automation
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • Security-series
    • Best Practices
    • Business
    • Business Growth
    • Business Risk
    • Cloud Computing
    • Customer Service
    • Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity Awareness Month
    • Data
    • GDPR
    • Internet of Things
    • IT Support
    • ITSM
    • LOGICcards
    • Machine Learning
    • Mail
    • Managed Services
    • Marketing
    • Mobile
    • Networking
    • Operations
    • Podcast
    • Product
    • PSA
    • Remote Management
    • Research & Trends
    • Risk Intelligence
    • Security
    • Security Vlog
    • Service Desk
    • Services & Support
    • The Head Nerds
    • Tips & Advice
    • Training
Home Blog MSP Business Mobile Device Management—A threat to employee privacy?
MSP Business

Mobile Device Management—A threat to employee privacy?

By Dan O'Keefe
15 November, 2019

Anything that connects to a network represents a potential security risk. These days, people bring enough of their own home devices—from smartphones to laptops—into the office. Each one can be an access point for cybercriminals. Protecting your customers’ networks often requires you to discover and secure those devices. 

This has led to the rise of mobile device management (MDM) solutions. These allow you to better protect both corporately owned and private devices that come on the network. 

However, if you choose to launch an MDM solution for your customers, you’ll need to exercise caution. Mobile devices and bring your own device (BYOD) policies often cause people to blur the lines over data ownership and between personal and professional lives. So transparency about data privacy matters a great deal—and so does speaking with legal counsel before you roll out an MDM solution. Today, we’ll dig into the topic a little more. 

Privacy and Mobile Device Management

CTA Image

SolarWinds Remote Monitoring and Management

Get the tools you need to manage, secure, and improve all things IT—all within a single web-based dashboard.

Try It Free Learn More

Most employees should know that what happens on work devices isn’t private. Many will still use work devices for personal activities like banking, shopping, using social media, or sending personal emails. Most companies already have acceptable use policies for their work property. While acceptable use policies don’t guarantee good behavior on part of your employees, it can potentially help reduce the risk of losing a lawsuit from a former employee (but again, talk to a lawyer). 

However, while acceptable use policies for company property have been prevalent for years, the rise of mobile working has complicated some of these policies. To top it off, while most employees are at least cautious about their work computers, people can be less cautious on their personal mobile devices. But it isn’t just about what personal activities they do on their devices—they may be completely unaware of the potential data you could have on them. Many MDM solutions allow you to track GPS locations for each device. This is certainly useful for recovering stolen devices, but it raises some privacy concerns for someone who may not want their employers being able to track their location at any given time. 

Beyond that, many MDM solutions allow you to track nearly anything on a given device—including incoming and outgoing text messages and calls, applications downloaded (and their data), photos, and much more. Employees could easily be surprised when they find out how much information their employer can see on devices they bring to work. Beyond this, it could even leave you—or your client—open to potential lawsuits if you aren’t careful about how you deal with their personal data. 

What You Can Do

First off, nothing in here constitutes legal advice. If you offer a BYOD policy or use an MDM solution, speak with legal counsel first. They need to help you draft policies to both protect you and your customers. But don’t just stop at what you need to draft—you’ll want to know where and when you must inform customers. This may differ depending on laws in your local jurisdiction, but you’ll likely need to gain employees’ consent before gaining access to devices.

Second, beyond speaking with legal counsel, it’s a good practice to remind employees fairly regularly of any important policies for both company-provided and personal devices. They should know that, for example, if they hook up their iMessage accounts to a company-managed Macbook so they can send messages to friends, employers could see their text messages. You may want to encourage them to only access their private data only on their own secure home networks and devices rather than bringing them in. 

Finally, remember that part of your job involves securing not just a company’s data, but the business itself. An MDM solution only plays a role in security—you need other layers to protect the business from all angles. Build strong security controls around the rest of the business—from network security to endpoint security. At the bare minimum, consider segmenting a separate guest network for personal devices so an unsecured device doesn’t get onto the main network. This way if you needed to avoid using an MDM solution for a particular client, you could still contain some threats and keep them off your customers’ primary network. 

SolarWinds RMM

Of course, MDM solutions still offer quite a few benefits to your customers. Mobile devices can bring a host of security issues to the forefront. And MDM solutions do provide some important security features like the ability to remotely lock devices or wipe the data from the device in the event it’s stolen. Additionally, when you use an MDM feature like the one built into SolarWinds® RMM, you can also set passwords, monitor data usage, and even remotely configure email or WiFi settings. And you can do it from the same web-based dashboard you use to monitor servers, workstations, virtual machines, and more. Learn more by visiting the site here. 

 

Additional reading

Five BYOD best practices for MSPs and their customers
BYOD: Bring Your Own Destruction!
Top Six Benefits of Mobile Device Management
You might also like...
MSP Business

Mobile access: Why it's as important for you as it is for your customers

MSP Business

A guide to cold calling for MSPs

MSP Business

Mac Terms to Know When Providing Mac Support

MSP Business

10 Things to Consider When Writing MSP Contracts

MSP Business

MSPs: Are You Planning to Retain Your Employees?

MSP Business

10 Steps to Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Field Techs

Want to stay up to date?

Get the latest MSP tips, tricks, and ideas sent to your inbox each week.

Loading form....

If the form does not load in a few seconds, it is probably because your browser is using Tracking Protection. This is either an Ad Blocker plug-in or your browser is in private mode. Please allow tracking on this page to request a subscription.

Note: Firefox users may see a shield icon to the left of the URL in the address bar. Click on this to disable tracking protection for this session/site

Recent Posts
  • What the Head Nerds Were Up to in 2020
  • RMM and PSA Tools: How to Make the Most of Both
  • How to Empower an IT Help Desk Team for Success
  • Six Tips That Will Make Managing Your MSP Company Easier
  • January 2021 Patch Tuesday: One Actively Exploited Vulnerability and a Few Likely to Be
Categories:
  • Security (230)
  • Tips & Advice (122)
  • Best Practices (94)
  • Managed Services (86)
  • Backup & Disaster Recovery (83)
  • The Head Nerds (75)
  • Business Growth (75)
  • IT Support (42)
  • Business (39)
  • Automation (37)
  • Cybersecurity (37)
  • Operations (34)
  • Mail (33)
  • Remote Management (28)
  • ITSM (25)
  • Cloud Computing (21)
  • Networking (21)
  • Data (21)
  • Marketing (14)
  • Product (11)
  • PSA (11)
  • Service Desk (5)
  • Services & Support (5)
  • Mobile (4)
  • Risk Intelligence (4)
  • Customer Service (3)
  • Internet of Things (3)
  • GDPR (2)
  • Research & Trends (2)
  • Training (2)
  • LOGICcards (1)
  • Business Risk (1)
Show moreless
SolarWinds MSP

Products
  • SolarWinds RMM
  • SolarWinds N-central
  • SolarWinds Backup
  • SolarWinds EDR
  • SolarWinds MSP Manager
  • SolarWinds Mail Assure
  • SolarWinds Risk Intelligence
  • SolarWinds Take Control
  • SolarWinds Passportal
  • All Products Use Cases
Solutions
  • Security Solutions
  • Monitoring Solutions
  • Efficiency Solutions
  • Identify which RMM solution is right for me
  • Drive Efficiency with Automation
  • Manage my MSP Business More Efficiently
  • Manage my IT Department More Efficiently
  • Layered Security
  • Cross-Platform Support
  • Data-Driven Insights
About
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Leadership Team
  • Upcoming Events
  • Subscription Preferences
  • SolarWinds
  • SolarWinds Trust Center
  • COVID-19 Response
Support
  • SolarWinds RMM
  • Solarwinds N-central
  • SolarWinds Backup
  • SolarWinds Mail Assure
  • SolarWinds Take Control
  • SolarWinds MSP Manager
  • Solarwinds Risk Intelligence
  • Solarwinds Threat Monitor
  • SolarWinds Passportal
  • SolarWinds Take Control Downloads
  • Backup & Recovery Downloads
  • Service Status

Footer 2

  • Legal Documents
  • Privacy
  • California Privacy Rights
  • Security Information
  • Sitemap

© SolarWinds MSP Canada ULC and SolarWinds MSP UK Ltd.
All Rights Reserved.