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Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

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Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#361

Post by GekkePrutser »

c3534l wrote: post #225
dvt wrote: post #109

Looks like TikTok is slowly imploding. I know there's plenty of political implications and a lot of discussion here is on that (which is interesting in its own right), but I wonder if there's opportunity here for a potential competitor.

My understanding was that TikTok was basically the Chinese response to periscope and vine, which was popular, but couldn't make money. TikTok's scheme is to be spyware that even puts Facebook to shame, in a way that I'm not convinced isn't just government spyware disguised as social media where the point isn't to make a profit to begin with. If similar attempts have failed because of monetization struggles, I don't s…

Some extra info to establish your point which I totally agree with:

https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/fxgi06/not_new_news...

TikTok is really exceptionally bad in this regard.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#362

Post by ls612 »

koolba wrote: post #144
sdoering wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe me - a lot of companies roll MDM just to be able to remotely wipe the device in case it gets lost. A lot of them do not block apps (or remove them).

Can one do this as an individual as well?

Is this any different from the Find My Apple Stuff feature on modern iDevices? One of the options is remote wiping. I assume android as a similar feature.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#363

Post by Multicomp »

xendo wrote: post #228

For the context, as an Amazon employee I’m not required to access email from my mobile. The only app that I need to have is virtual pager and it doesn’t require allowing Amazon to administer my phone. Physical pagers are also an option.

TLDR ooh Amazon has pagers, I wonder how?

Are there any pager networks left in the US? I've always been interested in them out of historical curiosity because I was too young to use them when they were actually a thing, but from what I understood, pagers are pretty much not a thing anymore.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#364

Post by wiml »

east2west wrote: post #359
melling wrote: post #342

The email sent to Amazon employees was a mistake. https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/amazon-bans-tiktok-emp...

From WSJ: Amazon Says Email Ordering Employees to Delete TikTok Was Sent in Error. I suspect Amazon realized late what a legal mess it is to ban an app on their employee's cell phone when they have no clear legal basis or governmental guidance. They banned employee using Huawei phones when I was working there, for some things -- don't remember exactly. But in that case, US government already banned it for its employe…

Why do you think Amazon doesn't have a clear legal basis to decide which devices are allowed to connect to their internal network services? Or, for that matter, to decide which devices ca be taken into non-public, secured parts of Amazon buildings?

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#365

Post by GekkePrutser »

sdoering wrote: post #136
cheonic729 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If any company expects me to access my work email while mobile, they have to provide a phone. No they don't. If you don't like it, switch employers.

Depends on the jurisdiction. In Germany they do. Labor rights explicitly says that your employer needs to provide the means for you to do your work. And that includes mobile phones if they want you to access your work email (or whatever) from a mobile device.

Yes they do... The problem is some users in Germany actually prefer to use their personal one so they don't have to carry two.. But due to this mindset they can't.

I don't think the German approach is always the best.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#366

Post by GekkePrutser »

Xylakant wrote: post #107
aboringusername wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all the security implications there could be, I would just refuse to use or own a smartphone in any capacity if it's related to work, unless there was no camera, mic, or GPS sensor (or they could provide hardware switches). Seriously, they could be logging your exact location, remotely activating the camera or doing any number of disgusting things. Requiring the use of a spy should not be a factor in an employme…

Apples iOS MDM framework is exemplary in that regard. Access to the camera is not possible. Access to GPS is only possible if the device is marked as lost, which will visibly change the lock screen. Even when lost mode is deactivated, GPS access that happened during lost mode is highly visibly marked on the lock screen. Installing an app that relays GPS and camera may be possible, but permissions need to be granted b…

I don't think Apple is the best at this. Yes they limit the things you mention, but they don't limit visibility to things like the app list... This can already be quite revealing in some cases.

Google has in my opinion the better approach with work profile. Only give the MDM control and visibility over the work area and nothing else.

Apple has started heading into this direction with User Enrolment but it's not sufficient for most companies as it only allows built-in apps to be used for both work and personal data. And it requires Apple account federation which is problematic.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#367

Post by GekkePrutser »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #24
thesausageking wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people I know check their work email from their personal phone. Work either doesn't buy them one or they don't want to carry around two phones.

Most people don't need to be on call 24/7 so they could just divorce themselves from off hours work and live like in the ancient times.

I don't really agree... I like the flexibility. Sometimes someone from the US calls me with an urgent problem in the evening (I'm in Europe so not much overlap in work hours).

So what... Sometimes I go to the shop or bank during the day. Or even a walk to the beach if it's not so busy. They're paying me to do a (global) job, not to sit at my desk between 9:00 and 17:00.

Personally I love this flexibility. And I don't feel like I work more than 40 hours, I don't even count them but I doubt I do, especially if I omit the time I spend during "working hours" reading hacker news or other stuff. My work is my hobby anyway.

I do think people who like having fixed work times should have the opportunity to have them. But I also think people like me should be able to work like this without it being considered a bad thing.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#368

Post by GekkePrutser »

mrlala wrote: post #18
orblivion wrote: post #8

Sorry if I missed something obvious, but if we're at the point where the U.S. government is even contemplating banning TikTok, how come it's on Google and Apple stores at this point? They seem to be at least somewhat vigilant about spyware etc.

From what I read, I think the issue is people keep claiming it does all this various "spyware" stuff, when it sounds like it's doing nothing that any other app could do, given the (what appear to be) lax permissions of android/ios. If people are so worried about what tiktok can be gathering outside of the app, that is a problem for apple & google. For this, I think it's 100% overblown what people think tiktok is doin…

This wasn't just the clipboard thing though. Some more elaboration:

https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/fxgi06/not_new_news...

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#369

Post by reaperducer »

Aperocky wrote: post #257
xendo wrote: post #228

For the context, as an Amazon employee I’m not required to access email from my mobile. The only app that I need to have is virtual pager and it doesn’t require allowing Amazon to administer my phone. Physical pagers are also an option.

As a developer, I don't see why I need to be constantly alerted to emails. I check about once or twice per day for items that need to put on calendar but every/anything urgent is for the pager.

Preach, brother.

Unfortunately, middle managers gotta middle manage. And they don't get the adrenaline rush of having people under them unless they can tabulate those people.

Which is why a lowly web dev like myself is expected to carry around a company-issued phone even in my off hours. In four years I've never needed it.

Re: Amazon says email banning TikTok from employee phones was ‘sent in error’

#370

Post by reaperducer »

taurath wrote: post #281
dvt wrote: post #109

Looks like TikTok is slowly imploding. I know there's plenty of political implications and a lot of discussion here is on that (which is interesting in its own right), but I wonder if there's opportunity here for a potential competitor.

Tiktok isn't imploding, its broadly a bunch of old men (senators, CEOs) afraid of china. The userbase of tiktok is tweens and teens. The best thing those old men could do is legislate system level privacy protections onto IOS and Android so an app can never get the level of info they're worried about.

its broadly a bunch of old men (senators, CEOs) afraid of china

If your entire worldview is ageist, works strictly on stereotypes, and encompasses only the United States, that might be true. But there are companies, organizations, and governments around the world locking out TikTok.

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