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At my first IT job, I spotted some bounce messages from a jobs address at a local big pharma firm. Admittedly, personal email addresses weren’t as common in 199

At my first IT job, I spotted some bounce messages from a jobs address at a local big pharma firm. Admittedly, personal email addresses weren’t as common in 1996 as they are now, but still, rookie mistake. I’ve maintained a strict “don’t do anything personal on a corporate computer” policy for a long time, but I’ve not found that to be a common approach.

ryandrake 3y ago
Same here. Air gap your personal and professional life. Separate devices, separate networks (if you work from home), don’t even bring your personal device to work if you don’t really have to. There was a story a few years back making the rounds on HN where an Apple employee had to turn in her corporate device due to some lawsuit against the company. This happens all the time in big companies. She was outraged at this because she had personal nudes on her corporate device. WTF how could anyone think this was a good idea?
- WWLink 3y ago
  I don't work for Apple or (honestly) know anyone that does, but from at least one news article, I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icloud-id https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icl...
  - steelframe 3y ago
    > I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. When I worked at Apple I needed a personal iCloud account to set up my corp MacBook. I simply created a new dummy personal account just for that. Nobody's auditing your iCloud account to make sure it's your "real" personal account or anything.
    - raverbashing 3y ago
      Yeah about that. That's one of the biggest weirdness in related to Macbooks on a corp environment, why do I need an unrelated account to do basic stuff on an Apple machine
      - WWLink 3y ago
        It all depends on how they manage them. You can and should just make a youremail@company.com icloud account. I'm actually surprised that's not the norm so they can take over stuff like activation lock. I don't use a personal icloud account on my work computer... it's not even allowed lol.
    - emodendroket 3y ago
      I have a “work personal” Google account for Chrome for similar reasons.
    - xmodem 3y ago
      At my last job I used a dummy iCloud account at the system level, but you can log into a separate account for the app store, which was necessary to avoid having to re-buy some apps I depend on. Just as I was leaving they were in the process of replacing everyone's computer with new ones that were much more locked down.
    - otteromkram 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - steelframe 3y ago
        > Why did you feel the need to quote the parent comment No reason in particular.
  - upon_drumhead 3y ago
    Apple encourages it, however, it's not required. Meta requires you to link your personal meta account with your work identity.
    - packetslave 3y ago
      Meta requires you to link a personal account to your work identity. Similar to Apple, they don't check to see if it was created just for the purpose.
      - eloisius 3y ago
        Meta also requires in their TOS that you have only one account and that it uses your “real” identity, so you’d be in violation of TOS with your work account.
      - upon_drumhead 3y ago
        Meta specifically says during onboarding to not create a work only account.
  - oli-g 3y ago
    > I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. To take nudes?
    - amoss 3y ago
      To store them on a corporate device. Weirdly the requirement originated from the IT department.
      - PepperdineG 3y ago
        Roy Trenneman made that policy and got Jen Barber to unknowingly approve it
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  > There was a story a few years back making the rounds on HN where an Apple employee had to turn in her corporate device due to some lawsuit against the company. Smarter decision is for the corp to just buy your device for you. Then it's a personal device, and at least in some cases I'm aware of, not a government record at least. Very doable for a phone where your "work" is limited to messages, webmail and calls.
MandieD 3y ago
My advice to young colleagues: never do anything on a work computer that you wouldn’t mind your boss (or her boss) seeing. Being greeted with a Department of Defense splash screen before login reminding me that everything I did on that computer was subject to monitoring formed that habit early, and I still can’t shake it, no matter how long I work in Germany, for a German firm with a rather assertive works council.

ryandrake 3y ago

Same here. Air gap your personal and professional life. Separate devices, separate networks (if you work from home), don’t even bring your personal device to work if you don’t really have to. There was a story a few years back making the rounds on HN where an Apple employee had to turn in her corporate device due to some lawsuit against the company. This happens all the time in big companies. She was outraged at this because she had personal nudes on her corporate device. WTF how could anyone think this was a good idea?

WWLink 3y ago
I don't work for Apple or (honestly) know anyone that does, but from at least one news article, I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icloud-id https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icl...
- steelframe 3y ago
  > I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. When I worked at Apple I needed a personal iCloud account to set up my corp MacBook. I simply created a new dummy personal account just for that. Nobody's auditing your iCloud account to make sure it's your "real" personal account or anything.
  - raverbashing 3y ago
    Yeah about that. That's one of the biggest weirdness in related to Macbooks on a corp environment, why do I need an unrelated account to do basic stuff on an Apple machine
    - WWLink 3y ago
      It all depends on how they manage them. You can and should just make a youremail@company.com icloud account. I'm actually surprised that's not the norm so they can take over stuff like activation lock. I don't use a personal icloud account on my work computer... it's not even allowed lol.
  - emodendroket 3y ago
    I have a “work personal” Google account for Chrome for similar reasons.
  - xmodem 3y ago
    At my last job I used a dummy iCloud account at the system level, but you can log into a separate account for the app store, which was necessary to avoid having to re-buy some apps I depend on. Just as I was leaving they were in the process of replacing everyone's computer with new ones that were much more locked down.
  - otteromkram 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - steelframe 3y ago
      > Why did you feel the need to quote the parent comment No reason in particular.
- upon_drumhead 3y ago
  Apple encourages it, however, it's not required. Meta requires you to link your personal meta account with your work identity.
  - packetslave 3y ago
    Meta requires you to link a personal account to your work identity. Similar to Apple, they don't check to see if it was created just for the purpose.
    - eloisius 3y ago
      Meta also requires in their TOS that you have only one account and that it uses your “real” identity, so you’d be in violation of TOS with your work account.
    - upon_drumhead 3y ago
      Meta specifically says during onboarding to not create a work only account.
- oli-g 3y ago
  > I get the impression Apple openly encourages (and maybe even requires) it. To take nudes?
  - amoss 3y ago
    To store them on a corporate device. Weirdly the requirement originated from the IT department.
    - PepperdineG 3y ago
      Roy Trenneman made that policy and got Jen Barber to unknowingly approve it
Scoundreller 3y ago
> There was a story a few years back making the rounds on HN where an Apple employee had to turn in her corporate device due to some lawsuit against the company. Smarter decision is for the corp to just buy your device for you. Then it's a personal device, and at least in some cases I'm aware of, not a government record at least. Very doable for a phone where your "work" is limited to messages, webmail and calls.

MandieD 3y ago

My advice to young colleagues: never do anything on a work computer that you wouldn’t mind your boss (or her boss) seeing. Being greeted with a Department of Defense splash screen before login reminding me that everything I did on that computer was subject to monitoring formed that habit early, and I still can’t shake it, no matter how long I work in Germany, for a German firm with a rather assertive works council.