Mobile 'trust gap' widens for UAE workers

The UAE bucks a global trend for employees using their own mobile devices for work, research has shown.

Among 3,000 workers in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, 80 per cent said they used their own devices, according to the research commissioned by the mobile device management company MobileIron and carried out by Vision Critical.

Only 30 per cent completely trust their employers to protect personal information and not use it against them, according to a survey.

"The trust gap is real," Ojas Rege, MobileIron's vice president of strategy, told Bloomberg. "Security and information technology policies need to be adjusted to a new mindset."

However, almost half of UAE workers are barred from using their own devices in the office, according to a joint study by BT and Cisco.

And 50 per cent of UAE companies do not offer office Wi-Fi, in spite of the productivity gains that could be had.

The report also found nine out of 10 respondents were dissatisfied with the services offered by their employers, saying their organisations needed to take further steps to boost productivity gains from smart devices.

Workers in the UK trusted their employers the most, with 34 per cent saying personal information would be completely safe, MobileIron's research showed. That compared with 31 per cent in the US and 24 per cent in Germany.

"Employees want their companies to be transparent and transparency brings trust," Mr Rege said.

To reduce concerns, companies need to establish clear policies and explain them to employees, including details of how data may be monitored and how such information will be used, Mountain View, California-based MobileIron said.

Workers were most worried about employers seeing personal communications, such as email and texts, MobileIron said.

Smartphone usage is growing at an exponential rate - a total of 1.7 billion smartphone handsets were shipped globally last year.

* With Bloomberg News