The interesting thing about using personal devices for work is personal liability. Have you ever considered what happens if your company is embroiled in some sort of litigation, regulatory investigation, or suspected criminal activity, and undergoes discovery of evidence? If law enforcement or counsel suspects that you or your devices are harboring relevant data, then your devices could be seized, imaged, held as evidence, and possibly never returned to you, certainly not in one piece.

So if you're mingling your personal data along with any sort of company data, or data that belongs to an organization that's outside your family unit, and said data is physically inseparable, then prepare to lose big in the future. You'll kiss all your backups goodbye, no matter where they're stored or how you've encrypted them.

Of course this may also apply if you've got a company-provided device (COPE) or one running MDM, and it's stolen or lost. When you report back to the company that their data's in the wind, they're going to remote-wipe and remote-brick that device, so again, kiss your personal data bye-bye.

Best practice going forward is to purchase separate devices (especially mass storage) for each individual purpose and meticulously separate out company data from personal stuff.

It never pays to mingle business with pleasure, or business with personal, and I think this liability issue is something that's a well-kept secret by companies who wish to encourage workers to BYOD and downplay the repercussions, although rare, that could put those workers into a world of hurt.

Thing is, until they've seized and inspected it, they can't tell whether my device contains relevant data or not. I'm not confident that keeping separate devices will protect me from the exigencies of discovery.

Of course nobody with a court order on your doorstep is going to take your word for anything. If the object of the order is to find some data, anything and everything that looks vaguely digital will be taken (consequentially, every physical nook and cranny will be searched for errant micro-SD cards). Stuff is handled on a per-item basis. An item is either returned (after months to years), or not.

If you end up in a situation like that - which does not mean you did anything wrong at all - your best bet at getting your personal data and items back is by 1.) having them physically separate 2.) not encrypting anything or immediately providing passwords / access so items can be cleared.

Effects and results may vary. Consult your local lawyer for more information.

> Have you ever considered what happens if your company is embroiled in some sort of litigation, regulatory investigation, or suspected criminal activity, and undergoes discovery of evidence? If law enforcement o

Very few people in real world experience this. I have some friends that do programming jobs who just ask for cellphone with at least 100 GB data as condition for employment. Companies do not care. These are not SRE that need 24 hours access but employees fell valued by these.

>You'll kiss all your backups goodbye, no matter where they're stored or how you've encrypted them.

How?

I would rather carry two devices than allow an employer to use my hardware without compensation. Ideally they would furnish their own data plan, too.

This also permits leaving the work device at work where it belongs.

That’s the idea: the employer pays for the data you use to do your job.

I've got 2 devices, and the only downside has been needing to charge more often. Reasons I like it:

- Can keep the device for work in a secure place, never have to look for it

- Can call my personal phone when I have look for that :)

- Separate address books

- Do whatever I like with my personal phone, no worries about it affecting business

- Easy to "turn off" work

+ leaving your work phone behind is liberating + its pretty hard to run out battery on two phones in one day

Then leave them on your desk.