Are you secure with your BYOD policy?

The UK IT Association (UKITA) is fully behind Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies that allow flexible working from around the office, at home or on the move. We believe that flexible working makes it easier for SME’s to manage their costs and workloads, so we were very interested to read this weeks’ report by the Information Commissioners Office and the comments below made by UKITA members and Cyber Security experts IASME.

The ICO has now issued very comprehensive advice for organisations using personal devices (BYOD e.g. laptops, tablets, smartphones etc.) in the course of business. The key message is that the data controller must remain in control of the personal data for which he is responsible, regardless of the ownership of the device used to carry out the processing. This means you can be in breach of the Data Protection Act if personal information is compromised while stored on any BYOD personally owned device used by you or your staff (in an email, document or anything else). This makes it particularly necessary to keep firm control of the use of these devices, have a clear policy and ensure all employees follow it.

The full press release and a link to the ICO advice can be found here

http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/latest_news/2013/survey-guidance-on-byod-personal-devices-07032013.aspx