When I first started practicing employment law, one of the big issues my clients dealt with was how employees used company-owned computers and Internet services. The Internet was relatively new. Many employees didn’t have access to the Internet at home and if they did it was via dial-up (remember that term?). In addition, computers were expensive. When laptops first came out, a lot of employees couldn’t afford them for personal use. Many of the early laptop purchases were employers that give them to employees, especially those who traveled. Employees generally loved this, and they frequently used their employers’ laptops for personal use. Not surprisingly, these computers and the employer’s Internet were sometimes used for improper purposes, creating all types of potential liability for employers. Policies governing the employee use of computers and Internet were in high demand.
Now, with the “consumerization” of the electronics industry, this world has completely pivoted. This development is known as BYOD bring your own device to work. Employees, as consumers, have access to the best devices iPad, iPhones, Android phones, Android tablets, Ultrabooks and all the apps that come with these devices. They want to use these devices for work, especially employees who travel a lot. They don’t want to use the clunky laptops their employers still have. They don’t want to carry around one phone for personal use and a different one for work. They don’t want to use a Blackberry, which most employers purchased. And they want to use tablets, which many employers haven’t yet bought.
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