Why you need a personal laptop
Keeping work and life on one device puts your privacy at risk
"It’s a decision that may seem like a no-brainer. You’ve got a new job, and they’ve just given you a brand-new ThinkPad. Perfect, you think to yourself. It’s about time I got rid of that 10-year-old MacBook Air.
I’ve been there. Surveys have shown that over half of workers use work-issued devices for personal tasks — whether sending personal messages, shopping online, accessing social media, or reading the news. The prospect of using your work laptop as your only laptop — not just for work, but also for Netflixing, group chat messaging, reading fanfiction, paying bills, and emailing recipes to your mom — is understandably tempting, especially for folks who work from home. Keeping work tasks and personal tasks in one place may feel like an easy way to simplify your life, and it might save space on your desk. Most of all, it may seem like a good cost-saving measure.
But I’m here to be the bearer of bad news:
Don’t do that. Please, I’m begging you, don’t do that.
> The most important thing to remember is that if you’re using a work laptop, you should assume IT can see what you’re doing. Companies have all kinds of tools available to monitor their employees’ devices — keyloggers, biometric tracking, geolocation, software that tracks web browsing and social media behavior. Over half use some sort of monitoring technique, and their usage has become more popular throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
> And, of course, your company can see what you’re doing in company-run programs like Slack and G-Suite Enterprise. Your novel you’ve been writing at night? Your Slack messages complaining to your co-workers about your boss? IT can see all of that. Even if you have separate personal accounts for these services, it’s still more likely that you’ll mix them up if you’re logged into both on the same computer.
“If you’re on a work laptop, you should assume your IT can see everything,” says Ryan Toohil, who has worked in IT for 20 years and is currently CTO of Aura, a digital security firm. “It’s the company’s laptop. They own it. It’s enrolled in a corporate IT product where they’re going to be able to track where you go on the internet.” Toohil emphasized that not all IT departments are regularly digging through their employees’ web history — but there’s always a risk that they could.
> It’s not just your activity that your co-workers might be able to see — they could also get access to anything you download. . .But some companies (such as Apple) won’t actually allow you to wipe your device before handing it in, regardless of how personal the contents are.
> . . .If you’re mixing work and pleasure on one device, just one mistaken email attachment or one incorrect copy / paste could lead to scenarios that aren’t just embarrassing but could harm your relationships with co-workers and even jeopardize your job.
A personal laptop is an investment — not just in your security, but in your mental health. You should get one.
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