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I recently had a manager insist that I install some MDM-like software on my laptop so that it could be tracked and managed remotely. I said, "okay I'll do that
by aa-jv 4y ago
I recently had a manager insist that I install some MDM-like software on my laptop so that it could be tracked and managed remotely.
I said, "okay I'll do that, but then I'm never going to put that laptop on my home network, or use it on any network I may frequent outside of the office, so I'll just leave my laptop on my work desk instead". The point, of course, is the same reasoning behind IT policies that don't let people install stuff on work computers: if you're going to access my computer remotely, I won't trust it one single bit, so it doesn't belong on my home network.
This changed their mind, quick. All it took was a little resistance and "good for the goose and the gander" mindset, and the manager droid 'got it'. No, I won't be letting you spy on my family ..
- hajhatten 4y agoI simply uninstalled ours. IT couldn't understand why. Very thankful I have an understanding manager.
- aa-jv 4y agoIT should never be treated as more senior to Development, imho. Sure, IT guy, you can put that software on there - but I reserve the right to Ghidra it into dysfunction.
- 6keZbCECT2uB 4y agoManagement has the authority to set policies on how work-provided technology is used since they can fire you for not following those policies (constrained by law). Between IT and developers, this isn't a fully-ordered relation since IT has jurisdiction to enforce those policies, and developers have jurisdiction on ensuring that software meets needed quality. If your management has ill-conceived policies that prevent you from being productive at work, includes everything from McAfee hobbled NTFS to being scheduled for 9 hours of meetings in an 8 hour workday, then leave and find somewhere more productive to work or accept that you're being paid to be unproductive.
- aa-jv 4y agoThe alternative, productive approach: stay, educate and dissuade draconian privacy-intrusive use of technology.
- beaugunderson 4y agoThere are reasonable reasons to enforce MDM in some industries, e.g. healthcare, where not being able to prove that full disk encryption was turned on if an employee laptop is stolen can lead to fines large enough to end a company. The need to hire and retain talented developers leads us to do this in the least intrusive way possible while still complying with federal regulations, however.
- lamontcg 4y agoThey forced that kind of software on my laptop, so I bought a personal laptop that I used from then on (I did open source work so barely ever needed to use something internal like a VPN) and then I quit.
- ISL 4y agoThis sort of approach only works reliably if you have a credible alternative to the negotiation.
- aa-jv 4y agoThe alternative, which was accepted, was that the administrator understand the error of their ways and not enforce such a ridiculous policy.
- corobo 4y agoYup, "That's creepy as fuck mate" was all it took to dissuade a former manager from rigging the ceiling up with cameras for whatever he was looking at doing Sometimes resistance is not futile