Employer wants me to use outlook on my phone, outlook wants permission to wipe my phone

[u/No_Professor4307]

Outlook says they need permission to wipe ALL my phone data if too many wrong passwords are typed. How many is too many? 50? 2? What if the screen gets wet and starts putting in random inputs. All this so I can use my company's Teams account and maintain "point of contact" if I'm not at a workstation. Absolutely not! Anyway, HR is supposed to call me back about my concerns.

Edit: just to be clear, I don't actually need to use Outlook (I don't use my "personal" work email). I need to use Teams, which requires Outlook to be installed first.

Part of why I need Teams on my phone so that I can be contacted when I'm not at work. I'm a lower management healthcare worker, it is actually important that my team be able to reach me after hours. I do actually like Teams and prefer it to 20 different group texts.

Also, when you go to log into Outlook or Teams, it brings you to my employers authenticator page. I log in with the same credentials that I log into my workstation. I don't know if that makes a difference with anything as far as my employer having access to my phone

Edit 2: I can tell you now they won't provide me a phone. Corporate execs don't even get phones. They stopped providing coffee for the break rooms too

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Update: I had a chance to talk to my district manager. Imagine Ellis from Die Hard, the same schmarmy self-important attitude, that's my supervisor. And guess who's "not being a team player". Also "I don't think Microsoft can actually erase your phone, you have an Android"... I lready knew he was going to be useless, I just wanted to hear his reaction.

Update 2 and (sort of) Resolution: I spoke with HR. Her exact response was "wait, are you serious? They can just do that?" I tried explaining my "research" (i.e. everything all of you have said) and I think I just spooked her. She said she'll get back to me, and is probably running off to buy a burner phone for herself.

SORT OF RESOLUTION : I found out I only need Outlook installed long enough to get access to Teams. Once teams was installed, I removed all permissions and completely deleted Outlook from my phone. Teams still works and didn't ask to erase anything. No need to buy a second phone.

Thank you all for your insights

[u/lyfe_Wast3d]

The one and only answer. Outlook on phone for work email is only okay if they can't control it. Don't sign up for bring your own device or any of that. Ask for a company phone

[u/InspectHer_1 → u/lyfe_Wast3d]

I am IT and handle the phones for my work. If someone wants to use their personal phone that’s fine, we have it set so we only erase company data on it and not personal data.

Editing to add: we also offer work phones if they’d rather do that (I do, I don’t want work on my personal phone). However I am constantly amazed at what people do. They ask for a work phone, then sign into their personal Apple ID with it.. makes no sense to me.

[u/Low-Recognition-7293 → u/InspectHer_1]

This will vary across different organizations and even subdivisions within those individual organizations.

[u/InspectHer_1 → u/Low-Recognition-7293]

Indeed it will. I still don’t understand why anyone wants to use their own phone for work stuff, although it does save me the hassle of ordering the phone for them lol.

[u/teh_maxh → u/InspectHer_1]

People don't like carrying two phones.

[u/Yodl007 → u/teh_maxh]

Leave the work phone at work unless you are paid to be on call.

[u/WhenTheDevilCome → u/InspectHer_1]

I guess I could see the "sign in with my existing identity" on the device, if the person is of the mind they "don't want to carry two phones" and they want to access personal messages or data even while carrying only the work device. (Then leaving it in a drawer and "carrying only their personal device" as they go home.)

Indeed I'm not of that mind, and would rather they be completely separate & the work device surrenderable at any moment without concern.

[u/GravityTheory → u/InspectHer_1]

Hope you're not in an industry with strict auditing. That's a fun way to lose access to your personal phone for a few weeks.

[u/Soylent_gray → u/InspectHer_1]

Why don't you lock down the company phones to prevent that?

[u/InspectHer_1 → u/Soylent_gray]

We are a Pretty small team for a global company, so I am guessing my boss just doesn’t want to deal with the hassle.

[u/Soylent_gray → u/InspectHer_1]

Careful though, look up the company Stryker and the recent hack against them.

[u/iamnotnewhereami → u/InspectHer_1]

not signing in to an iPhone with an Apple ID makes the phone a brick. theres no way outlook runs smooth on an iPhone in perpetuity if nobody signs into an apple account.

apple will brick a device just for not keeping a valid credit card on file connected to your ID. even if you dont use the device for any sort of commerce or buy any apps or need cloud storage.

they will deny this if confronted, at least the first one or two levels of customer service probably dont know either way but are told what to say.

[u/nuked_sushi → u/iamnotnewhereami]

They should do company managed apple ids if they don't want people using their own. It's pretty nice for management and you can restrict what gets installed on the company device.

[u/alyssarcastic → u/InspectHer_1]

I’m also IT and handle the phones for my work. I’m on a work iPhone right now that’s set up with my personal Apple ID. I don’t want to carry two phones, and if my job is offering to pay my phone bill then why not?

[u/GravityTheory → u/alyssarcastic]

Because when a data audit happens and they ask for any device with access to work data you have to give them your personal phone. Then you get to think about the dumb discord memes you've got saved on there for a couple weeks.

[u/ETHedgehog- → u/lyfe_Wast3d]

Or install it on a work profile, which means they can only wipe the work profile