Personal Laptop - Company Setting Up IT System

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BobbyFowler

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I'm in a commission only recruitment role & use my own personal laptop in work. The company I'm with are getting their IT systems in place & are using an external company. I was getting my laptop hooked up to the wireless printer last week. I left it with one of their guys & headed off for the evening. I noticed a strange icon on my toolbar the next day. It was called LogMeIn & allows them to access my computer remotely. It was installed by the IT company without saying anything. I contacted them & they explained the reasoning behind setting it up. I uninstalled it but have't said anything. Problem here is that I actually placed this particular guy with the IT company & if he's shown the door (unlikely) I'll lose the commisson! Now I hear that they're looking for us to leave our laptops behind one of the evenings next week for the IT company to do some work on them. Should I tell them to go shove it, it's my personal laptop & I'll do what I want with it or should I just play along & let them do whatever they want to do. I get on well with the guys so don't want to be a total This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language about it. At the same time I'm not totally sure what they'd be putting on it, apart from LogMeIn. It would be good to hear what people think.
 
It seems unusual that they should want access to your own PERSONAL laptop, and if it was me, I wouldn't be happy about it at all. Why don't you request a work laptop and let them access that all they like!
 
If they are allowing you to use your own laptop for work purposes, they need to make SURE the laptop is secure and does not pose a threat for the company's info.
If you prefer them not to fiddle with your laptop, you should ask for a company issued machine, otherwise you must abide with their rules.
You have already tampered with the IT dept. actions by uninstalling Logmein, which means if your lappy gets hacked and company info is lost, you are liable and will be terminated (your job, not your life ;))
 
It's your own property and not work's.

If they are so concerned about the control and storage of personal information (as they should be), then it would be prudent that they provide you with suitable equipment in order to store and access this data.

As it is your property, they would need your permission before installing any software. If they intend to acces your own laptop and install software, they should have a policy that you have agreed to and signed in order to allow this.

However, those IT "logins" tend to be a shadowing tool where before they access, each and every time they ask your permission.

There are issues with accessing the employer's server through your own equipment and I can understand where they're comming from, however if it is that necessary, they should look at providing the equipment in the first place. And if not, it must be recognised that it is your equipment and they must seek your written, informed consent.

A similar analogy could be using your own personal car for business and work and the employer insisting on instalingl a handsfree kit and a gps tracker system. There are issues with resale value and damage to the car, who is responsible?
 
Latrade said:
It's your own property and not work's.

If they are so concerned about the control and storage of personal information (as they should be), then it would be prudent that they provide you with suitable equipment in order to store and access this data.

As it is your property, they would need your permission before installing any software. If they intend to acces your own laptop and install software, they should have a policy that you have agreed to and signed in order to allow this.

However, those IT "logins" tend to be a shadowing tool where before they access, each and every time they ask your permission.

There are issues with accessing the employer's server through your own equipment and I can understand where they're comming from, however if it is that necessary, they should look at providing the equipment in the first place. And if not, it must be recognised that it is your equipment and they must seek your written, informed consent.

A similar analogy could be using your own personal car for business and work and the employer insisting on instalingl a handsfree kit and a gps tracker system. There are issues with resale value and damage to the car, who is responsible?
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sorry mate, it doesnt work like that.
the OP wants to bring his laptop in work, he must comply with corporate rules. he can leave it at home otherwise.
the 'logins' you are referring to, are actually 'logmein' aka a piece of software that allows you to remote into your work machine from anywhere with a network connection.
 
As above, if its company policy then you dont have much choice, its their network and if youre hooking clients up to it then theyre entitled to ensure that their network is safe safe. Dont worry about logmein though, logmein is harmless if disabled, dont need to remove it.
 
nmesisca said:
sorry mate, it doesnt work like that.
the OP wants to bring his laptop in work, he must comply with corporate rules.
Click to expand...

I don't think the OP ever stated that he "wants" to bring his laptop in. It seems that his employer is trying to do things in the cheap by getting him to use his personal property for work purposes.

Simple solution: your laptop gets "stolen"/"borrowed by your girlfriend"/"eaten by a cat". If there's an issue with you no longer "having" a laptop, you explain that you are repaying debts and can't afford a new one.

Your employer then has to buy a laptop for your use as an employee. As the employer owns this laptop, they can install anything they want on it. If the employer is too scabby to pay ~299 ex. VAT for a cheapo Dell laptop then the company obviously has financial problems.
That's the way things are where I work: I have an employer-paid laptop that I leave at work, and my personal laptop stays at home.
 
Eblanoid said:
I don't think the OP ever stated that he "wants" to bring his laptop in. It seems that his employer is trying to do things in the cheap by getting him to use his personal property for work purposes.

Simple solution: your laptop gets "stolen"/"borrowed by your girlfriend"/"eaten by a cat". If there's an issue with you no longer "having" a laptop, you explain that you are repaying debts and can't afford a new one.

Your employer then has to buy a laptop for your use as an employee. As the employer owns this laptop, they can install anything they want on it. If the employer is too scabby to pay ~299 ex. VAT for a cheapo Dell laptop then the company obviously has financial problems.
That's the way things are where I work: I have an employer-paid laptop that I leave at work, and my personal laptop stays at home.
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you are correct the OP did not explicitly stated that. however, my guess is that he would prefer to use its own.. just a guess but thats how things generally go (have had to deal with this for years, as an employee first and as a manager after).
TBH I think its quite easy to understand that no employer would force you to use your own laptop, as not everyone owns one.
maybe the OP could clarify if its his preference or an imposed decision?
 
The guys in work are keeping their costs down. Each of the consultants use their own personal laptops. We also pay our own mobile phone bills. On the plus side, we've got a generous commission base. We're doing pretty well & there's money there. They're also a good bunch of lads. I was annoyed though when something was installed without me being told. I emailed the IT guys directly & got this email back.

Yes I did install that. It’s basically a software agent that allows us to Remote Control your screen whenever you need us to for whatever reason. It enables us to give you more responsive support when you need it, as you don’t have to wait for us to be able to come in to the office if we need to change your settings etc. You will know when we are connected because the little icon will change and also a box will appear near the top-right corner of your screen telling you that this computer is currently being remote controlled and will state the name of the person doing so. Naturally, we will always call before we do this to get your OK so as to ensure that it is:-
1. Convenient at that time, and
2. Not invading your privacy

Hope that clears the air.

I kept quiet on it because there was a commission related issue in work & I was angling for an extra few quid. As it happens, I didn't get it. I'm just wondering is it worth upsetting the apple cart on this or just go with the flow.
 
I think the response from the IT company makes sense. Log Me In is a low cost way to offer remote support. Without remote support, issues could take longer to resolve.

Whether you want to continue using your own laptop for your employment is probably better discussed in the Work and Careers forum.
 
Would it not make sense then to buy a cheap (maybe lower spec e.g. netbook) laptop solely for work? As a consultant I'm sure you would then be able to write it, and any software you have to have, off on your expenses. That would seem the best solution to me - you keep your privacy and the company gets to do what they want.
 
BobbyFowler said:
Naturally, we will always call before we do this to get your OK so as to ensure that it is:-
1. Convenient at that time, and
2. Not invading your privacy
Click to expand...


Funny that they didn't employ the same policy when installing products on your laptop......proper solution is leave your work laptop where it belongs, at home.
 
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