On Monday, officials from Home Affairs, the Australian department responsible for all things immigration, border security, and cyber, faced questioning as part of Senate Estimates. A lot of time was spent on the decision to ban TikTok from use on government-issued phones, but the conversation also went towards blocking other apps such as Netflix and even dating apps.
Mike Pezzullo, Department of Home Affairs secretary and seasoned Senate Estimates attendee, was unsurprisingly playing a game of tennis with Greens senator David Shoebridge over what apps are and aren’t allowed on government phones. France, for example, has not only banned TikTok, but per Shoebridge’s testimony, has also banned Netflix, Twitter, Instagram, and dating apps. Shoebridge wanted to know if this sort of directive was in place in Australia.
It’s not something that Pezzullo was able to provide an answer to, but he did touch on the likes of well-documented data-generating app Google Maps being used, and other ‘sensible’ ones like that, allowed on public servants’ phones.
“All applications, whether they’re from one country or another, require a degree of data exposure and a degree of privacy trust, because you have to beacon data back when you first subscribe to the application or as you continuously use it,” Pezzullo said.
“It would not be sensible to have no apps on our devices—Google Maps, for instance. No one seems to be able to read a street directory any more or know how to get about. But you place limitations, for instance, on-location services being restricted for the period in which the app is being used.
“I’m fairly certain … through whitelisting and blacklisting processes, we wouldn’t allow dating apps. I am fairly confident in saying that if there are any dating apps, they will be deleted this afternoon, I can assure you.”
He also added: “I would be surprised any of our officers have got time to be watching Netflix on their government devices”.
But it is baffling to think government employees would be using a government-issued phone to do personal stuff like swiping right.
This advice should be taken by anyone with a work-issued phone/tablet/laptop. The device belongs to your employer, your employer has access to what is being done on that device. I’m not saying they look, so I apologise if this has caused any paranoia, but it’s their device, loaned to you. Similarly, if you use a work laptop for non-work, other work, technically your employer owns that work.
The same conversation can be had for what is done on work Wi-Fi.
Let this be a reminder that personal stuff, unless you want your employer to know about it, should be done on your personal device/s only.
Anyway, it wasn’t just Home Affairs that copped questioning over TikTok. Australia’s Privacy Commissioner, meanwhile, alongside the ACCC is attending a “transparency and accountability tour” that, if done in person, will take place in either Singapore or the U.S.. If it’s done via Zoom, Liberal senator James Paterson reckons it’ll just be a carefully curated “Zoom call and they’ll give you a PowerPoint”.
That last bit was just an interesting tidbit, the takeaway is the whole DON’T USE YOUR WORK PHONE FOR PERSONAL SHIT thing. So please, value your privacy and keep dating apps to the phone you’ve paid for yourself.