Does anyone else use their home computer instead of their work provided computer?

[Abazigal]

I was given a work laptop, but it's much slower than my personal iMac. Does anyone else use their personal computer instead of their work provided one?

I am a teacher, and I prefer using my home computers (a 2017 5k imac and an M1 MBA), plus my iPad Pro for work over my work-issued laptop (a HP EliteX2).

It helps that we use google docs a fair bit, which can be accessed through the browser and is fairly platform agnostic. I need my work laptop to access the school’s network drive and print documents but otherwise, I don’t really enjoy it much. Battery life is so-so, it’s slow (probably due to all the admin software installed on it), which in turn limits its usefulness (because I can’t install anything else on it).

This really shone last year when my school closed due to the pandemic and we moved to home-based learning. We adopted Zoom as our video-conferencing platform of choice with staff and students, and this is where the limitation of the HP Elite became apparent. Zoom produced a lot of heat which the laptop could not efficiently dissipate, resulting in more than one colleague having screen issues. There was also the problem of the sole USB-C port getting loose over time. Just a poor experience overall.

Meanwhile, I was having a blast zooming using my imac. It’s gorgeous 5k display was great for having 2 apps side by side (eg: zoom and safari browser). Apple ecosystem means AirPods. I enjoyed using my ipad to record screencasts to upload to youtube. By and large, the Apple ecosystem allowed me to do my job far more efficiently than some of my colleagues who had the school laptop as their only computer.

It’s experiences like this that make me a loyal Apple customer for life.

 

[bunnspecial]

I mentioned earlier about how my work will let me pay the difference on getting a new Mac.

I asked IT about it and they said "nope, never heard of that."

The conversation I had further was "We really don't like to support Macs and we don't normally provide them....well we got one for the new president but that's because he's the new president."

That last phrase kind of pushed my buttons a bit. If IT has a policy that every employee is provided either a desktop or a laptop that IT chooses, I don't see why the president(who has been there less time than I have, even though I'm the new kid on the block) gets to be the exception to that.

Whatever the case, I just said "forget it" and went out and got a new M1 MBP. I haven't regretted that, and there advantages to it being my own system rather than work owning it.

Truth be told, the only place I use a work-provided computer is in one of our specially outfitted "Blend-Flex" classrooms, which are designed for in person and synchronous Zoom instruction. That one can actually be a fun one since you have 4 total displays(computer monitor, TV, projector, smart tablet) and 3 cameras(document, one mounted at the back of the room facing forward that you can pan/zoom with a remote, and one mounted out facing the classroom) all at your disposal.

One of my projects has been getting a GC-MS up and running and doing it on a shoe string budget. Now that I've shown it working, I've been able to get the okay to spend $9K on a Windows 10 system to run it (there's a LOT more than just plopping a computer down next to it to be able to do that). For right now, the "proof of concept" and actually fairly good operation has been on an ancient PII Dell that I used because the only interface card I had in my own personal stash was ISA. That computer is running Windows 2000. I did supply that computer, though.

 

[TiggrToo]

I don't see why the president(who has been there less time than I have, even though I'm the new kid on the block) gets to be the exception to that.

Because he's the President?

Can't think of any company I've worked at anywhere in Europe or the US, commercial, non-profit or military over 30+ years, where folk at the top get to get away with stuff folks at the bottom can't.

 

[Dockland]

Yes, I do. Currently working from home on my Mac mini (M1) Everything works flawless except the built in Windows 10 remote assistant (Quick assist)

 

[biffuz]

When I can, I always use my own computers... mainly because they have almost always been more powerful and more pleasant to use than company's machines, sometimes by a huuuuge margin! My 8 years old MBP runs circles around the work laptop I've got now! In fairness, I was the new guy so they gave me what they had at the time, we were supposed to get new ones last year, but the human malware situation forced the company to postpone - and maybe it's not bad news, given the shock that Ryzen and M1 gave to the CPU market, we may end up with some sweeter machines than expected!

 

[bradl]

I tend to think about it this way, and say no, I would not use my home computer instead of work. The reason: line of separation.

If you work in something like IT, whether as a sysadmin, software engineer, systems engineer, etc., and have to write some sort of code for your work (programming, scripting, etc.), most companies have in the licensing agreements that you agree to when you work for that company that any code written for work, including all derivatives, becomes the company's intellectual property. So any copy of your work on your home computer could technically belong to the company you work for and not you.

Should you get fired/terminated for anything, and you take the program/code that you developed on your home computer to another company, the company that fired you could come after you or that other company for IP theft. That's a heavy indictment, especially should they try to seize your personal computer for the purpose of getting their IP. That means they could have access to any PII (personal identifiable information) or PCI data (read: credit Card/Bank account data) on your computer while it is in their possession.

So you should keep that line of separation there. Otherwise, you could be in risk of more than just your work getting out.

BL.

 

[AustinIllini]

Anything that doesn't require Intranet goes through my personal machine.

 

[Polly Mercocet]

Nope; work is work and personal is personal. I carry two phones for that same reason.

Same here. I only do work stuff on work equipment and only do personal stuff on my personal equipment. I don't want my employer spying on my personal devices. They can spy on their corporate machines all they want because I'll never log into a single personal account from one.

 

[biffuz]

If you work in something like IT, whether as a sysadmin, software engineer, systems engineer, etc., and have to write some sort of code for your work (programming, scripting, etc.), most companies have in the licensing agreements that you agree to when you work for that company that any code written for work, including all derivatives, becomes the company's intellectual property. So any copy of your work on your home computer could technically belong to the company you work for and not you.

Of course using work stuff for personal use is not a great idea...

Should you get fired/terminated for anything, and you take the program/code that you developed on your home computer to another company, the company that fired you could come after you or that other company for IP theft. That's a heavy indictment, especially should they try to seize your personal computer for the purpose of getting their IP. That means they could have access to any PII (personal identifiable information) or PCI data (read: credit Card/Bank account data) on your computer while it is in their possession.

This is a good point. However, as I mostly worked as a consultant or for a consultant firm, having other companies' stuff on my computer is part of the job.

 

[bradl]

Of course using work stuff for personal use is not a great idea...

But I'm also talking about the other way around. Using personal equipment for work use also is not a great idea. I'll give an example. At a company I used to work for, When they transitioned from Blackberries to iPhones, for those who already had a personal phone, instead of having the option of the employees to carry two phones, they also offered the perk of paying employee's phone bill. But in return for the company paying the employee's phone bill, the ownership of the phone and the phone number were both swapped over to the company.

Basically, the employee's personal phone was turned into being a company phone. However, when the employee left the company, the company kept the phone and phone number, including all personal data that was on the phone, including personal data that was there prior to the company taking ownership of the phone. The employee wouldn't get their phone, nor their number back. Most didn't understand the concept of backing up their phone, so when they left, they lost everything on it.

That (now company-owned) iPhone was also subject to audit; meaning that since the company now "owned" the phone, they had the right to go through that phone to make sure no company-owned data was leaving the company.

That was the bulk of many reasons why I didn't take that perk and had them issue me an iPhone in addition to my personal iPhone, in addition to the on-call iPhone that was passed around our IT team whenever we were on call for that period.

This is a good point. However, as I mostly worked as a consultant or for a consultant firm, having other companies' stuff on my computer is part of the job.

As long as you have the agreements in place for that, you are good to go... Now, imagine being Intel, where they are still in the middle of a lawsuit where someone who on their last day of their job took the code that they wrote, thinking it was theirs (they wrote it), and went to start their new job at Micron. Intel did an audit, saw that the user's code was taken, went after the developer, home computers were seized, saw the code, and was subsequently sued for IP theft, as well as lost his job at Micron.

All because his work was on his personal devices instead of work. Oh yeah; this happened 3 months after I started at Intel, at the actual location I worked at. Micron is only 1/2 a mile down the street from the Intel campus:

Intel gets court order telling former engineer to return confidential docs in Micron row

Defense insists there's nothing to return. And those Perl files? Purely sentimental.

www.theregister.com

BL.

 

[biffuz]

But I'm also talking about the other way around.

Sorry, I meant using work code for personal project.

Using personal equipment for work use also is not a great idea. I'll give an example. At a company I used to work for, When they transitioned from Blackberries to iPhones, for those who already had a personal phone, instead of having the option of the employees to carry two phones, they also offered the perk of paying employee's phone bill. But in return for the company paying the employee's phone bill, the ownership of the phone and the phone number were both swapped over to the company.

Basically, the employee's personal phone was turned into being a company phone. However, when the employee left the company, the company kept the phone and phone number, including all personal data that was on the phone, including personal data that was there prior to the company taking ownership of the phone. The employee wouldn't get their phone, nor their number back. Most didn't understand the concept of backing up their phone, so when they left, they lost everything on it.

That (now company-owned) iPhone was also subject to audit; meaning that since the company now "owned" the phone, they had the right to go through that phone to make sure no company-owned data was leaving the company.

This example is a bit extreme... if you sell your stuff to the company (because that's what happened in the end), you pretty much know what this implies.

In general, people know that you can't use work devices for personal use, but companies are tolerant - if nothing else, to keep people happy - if not abused; and that you shouldn't have personal data on them. That's pretty much since those things existed, I remember people telling me when my dad took me in the office when I was a kid in the '80s. And I'm pretty sure people knew the concept even before, with photocopiers, typewriters, fax machines, etc.

And not having a backup? That's calling for troubles.

Of course I do know a lot of people who do use company laptops and never backing up, and they never listen when I tell them to not do that, but what more can I do... other than yelling "I told you so!" when they come at me begging for help.

That said, here companies can't just kick people out of the door, they need to give them a warning several days in advance, so they have time to clear their items. Even locking out of their accounts is a delicate matter. I witnessed this happening only once, when a guy was caught trying to install a backdoor on a server.

Then, there are the borderline behaviours, like bringing your devices to the office or connecting them to the company network, but that's another mess of policies, regulations and laws... in any case, it's better to avoid, but there aren't many companies which say you something if you have your personal phone with you.

As long as you have the agreements in place for that, you are good to go... Now, imagine being Intel, where they are still in the middle of a lawsuit where someone who on their last day of their job took the code that they wrote, thinking it was theirs (they wrote it), and went to start their new job at Micron. Intel did an audit, saw that the user's code was taken, went after the developer, home computers were seized, saw the code, and was subsequently sued for IP theft, as well as lost his job at Micron.

All because his work was on his personal devices instead of work.

That guy was an idiot. Seriously, you should at least check what your contract says...

 

[Apple fanboy]

We had a guy who got caught using a site you would really have to be stupid to use on your work computer. The IT guy warned him and said he would take it to the MD if it happened again. Anyway he then did it again, and the IT guy spoke to the MD and in the end we had to call the police in. The idiot tried to cover his tracks by claiming he accidentally reinstalled Windows as well. Well you can’t do that by accident and it doesn’t cover your tracks.
Anyway moral of the story is always Google potential employees before you offer them a position and check their ankles when they start.
He was sacked for gross misconduct and went to prison I believe.

 

[Polly Mercocet]

Then, there are the borderline behaviours, like bringing your devices to the office or connecting them to the company network, but that's another mess of policies, regulations and laws... in any case, it's better to avoid, but there aren't many companies which say you something if you have your personal phone with you.

My company has a separate WiFi network for personal devices of employees and then another separate network for guests, alongside the main network for corporate devices only.

I've always assumed they're all monitored and log everything so I've never connected my phone to the employee WiFi - I have a load of data anyway and the office has decent 4G coverage - but they're accommodating to people who want to bring in personal devices.

And really I'm always a bit extra paranoid and this isn't an exception - the most they can log is a MAC address, which changes itself for privacy reasons anyway; the hostname (far more reliable as an identifier); and TLS traffic they can't decrypt, although they can see what domains a device with a certain hostname is visiting unless encrypted DNS is set up on it or better it's connected to a private VPN server.

In my case my iPhone has a hostname that doesn't identify me, I do have my VPN app on there but rarely use it because it drains battery, I do have AdGuard DNS configured which uses DoH, and all I really do on my phone at work is send the odd message on Signal, Telegram, or iMessage and stream music anyways.