'This is Illegal': Employee Says Company Wants to Track Personal Phone, Seeks Help on Reddit

We’ve all heard of employees being issued company phones and having their activities tracked, but a recent Reddit post has taken things to a whole new level. A user recently revealed that their employer wants to track their personal phone. Yes, you read that right.

In the ‘Anti Work’ subreddit, a user named @BlueSeaChief claimed that their company demanded employees download an app to monitor their personal phone activities. They also pointed out that complaining to higher management would be futile, as the only response they’d get is, “If you don’t like it, leave.” The user added, “I’m about 95% sure this is illegal. What should I do or who should I call?”

The Reddit community quickly jumped in with advice. One user suggested, “If they want to track when you’re on or off property then they can buy you a cheap phone that you will then in turn keep in desk/locker. Don’t let anyone convince you to put that s*** on your phone.”

Another commenter shared their strategy: “I have an oldpeople flip phone that my employer thinks is my actual phone. If they aren’t providing the tech (for it to live in my locker) they have to accommodate my lack of tech. Nopenopenope.”

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A third user, an HR professional, weighed in: “Absolutely do not agree to this! Unless the company will be paying for your phone service, they legally can’t even require you to download an app (for things like clocking in). I’m in HR in the US and have seen companies attempt this and they can’t legally force it. You would also have quite the legal case should they terminate.”

Finally, a fourth user offered a clever workaround: “Just install it and then disable the location permission for this app on the phone configs, that’s what I did. they won’t ask you if you disabled it because they know it’s illegal to track people.”

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What do you think about this situation?