iPad Can an Enterprise iPad be viewed by my eMpLoYeR?

[HappyDude20]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

 

[Clix Pix]

Buy an iPad for your own personal use and that way you won't have any concerns about an employer/IT seeing what you are or are not doing on that device when you are not "on the clock." Use the work-issued iPad for work. Use the personal iPad for your own interests, set up with your own personal account. Simple, yes?

 

[HappyDude20]

Buy an iPad for your own personal use and that way you won't have any concerns about an employer/IT seeing what you are or are not doing on that device when you are not "on the clock." Use the work-issued iPad for work. Use the personal iPad for your own interests, set up with your own personal account. Simple, yes?

omg clix pix did you not see the last paragraph I wrote in which I state that my work knows I’m not working at night and they understand I can use the iPad for leisure as well?

I’m asking if they can track what I do considering it’s an enterprise version of an iPad, not for your moral opinion as to how to use a modern computer.

and some ppl wonder why the spirit of macrumors forums have degraded in the past decade.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

Yes. Don't do bad things on it.

 

[MacknTosh]

"omg clit pix did you not see the last paragraph I wrote in which I state that my work knows I’m not working at night and they understand I can use the iPad for leisure as well?"

...well actually, you don't say this at all. You were given a perfectly reasonable response to your query and your response seemed a bit OTT (ironic, given your statement of "...the spirit of macrumors forums have degraded in the past decade")!

Granted, you were not told whether or not you could be tracked, but the solution provided by Clit Pix (who comes up with these names???) meant it could easily be a moot point.

 

[Tdosthp]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

Largely depends on the MDM solution your employer uses, if at all.

The best answer, without knowing if or how the MDM is configured is MAYBE.

It is possible they can or maybe they have that functionality deactivated.

Not sure what can be seen through the carrier.

 

[doolar]

Awww millennials, will you ever grow up and take responsibility, or will you keep needing mommy to come rescue you? ?

Private matters on your private devices, work matters on work devices. Always treat work issued tools as what they are, company property. Simple as that.

You can thank me later,

Boomer

 

[BigDO]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

Yes, they definitely can. Doubt that anyone does though.

 

[happio]

Not sure why some folks felt the need to jump in with a patronising / judgmental response that didn't answer the question .

Simply put, your employer can't remotely monitor what you're browsing if you're not on their network (ie via wifi or vpn). Private mode would be your best bet

 

[maflynn]

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

Simple solution, don't use work property for personal use. Get yourself an iPad and use it however you wish - simple ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[TKNDWN]

Up until very recently I had an enterprise “managed by X company” iPad 6th Gen LTE and I was told they can see everything you do on it, so I only used it for work. I did eventually buy my own, though, because I enjoyed using the iPad, even though I was using their awful, un-optimised, buggy poor excuse of an app that they developed in order for me to carry out my work.

My advice? I wouldn’t risk it. Nefarious or not, I wouldn’t want them snooping in on what I’m searching. There are creepy people out there!

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

It depends on how the MDM is configured on your work iPad. With a work iPad, you don't have any expectation of privacy.

I think you owe ClixPix an apology. You were very rude to her without cause.

 

[BigDO]

Simply put, your employer can't easily monitor what you're browsing if you're not on their network (ie via wifi or vpn). Private mode would be your best bet

Lol, worst reply in this thread by far. Maybe refrain from commenting on topics you obviously know nothing about.

 

[chrfr]

Because of the app limitations already set on the OP’s particular device, we know that this is a Supervised iPad.

Generally, the first step is to know if the device is Supervised. If the device is not Supervised (capitalized to clarify that I’m referring to the specific Apple term), it acts just as if it’s a personally owned device and your employer will have no way to see or configure anything on the device beyond what’s afforded by being connected to the corporate network, just as with any computer or device. With that said, my employer generally doesn’t manage employee iPads, but of course the acceptable use policy for use of employer owned computers would still apply and violating that policy could bring whatever penalties are applicable.

To find out if the device is Supervised, review this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202837

What I‘ve written below is only relevant if the device is Supervised.
Apple devices enrolled in corporate MDM systems do not share Safari history or the content of text messages or iMessage, or have any information about call history. However, with that said, these devices can be configured to use an always-on VPN which would route all your network traffic through your employer’s network which would then give them knowledge of sites you’re browsing to.
Ultimately, corporate owned iOS/iPadOS devices do allow the owner to have more control over the device but Apple still provides some degree of privacy for the user. The degree of control is not something that can easily be determined by the user, and I would be sure not to do anything on the device that’s outside of what meets the owner’s acceptable use policy.
Here are some references, but when reading them be aware of the distinction between personally owned and corporate owned devices. Personally owned devices have many more limitations as to what an MDM can do on them.

Deployment Reference for iPhone and iPad

This content has moved.

support.apple.com

https://www.apple.com/business/docs/resources/Managing_Devices_and_Corporate_Data_on_iOS.pdf

 

[lyunmac]

It depends what mdm they use. I'm in IT and we only use it to push out company apps and wipe phones if they're lost. We don't have the ability to browse the phone or check your network traffic. I've explained this many times to our users who had the same concerns and told them we have better things to do with our free time haha. If privacy concerns you then getting a refurbished iPad from Apple isn't a bad idea if you like the tablet experience.

 

[AutomaticApple]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

The best you could probably do is use DuckDuckGo or maybe Startpage.

Awww millennials, will you ever grow up and take responsibility, or will you keep needing mommy to come rescue you? ?

Private matters on your private devices, work matters on work devices. Always treat work issued tools as what they are, company property. Simple as that.

You can thank me later,

Boomer

Best typo ever. Let's see those clit pix.

Yeah, this thread is officially a rare and bizarre disaster. OP has gotten many good answers by this point. Maybe the thread should be locked before this rabbit hole goes even deeper.

 

[chrfr]

It depends what mdm they use.

All MDMs have the same access into the OS, which is all dictated by Apple. What matters isn’t which MDM platform is being used, but how it’s configured.

 

[TiggrToo]

I have an enterprise iPad given to me by my work. I work remotely so have an LTE 8th generation iPad and it’s great but it doesn’t have the App Store and mainly only specific apps for my work. However it does have safari and am wondering if my employer can view what I’m googling and searching.

am wondering if they’d be able to when I’m using the LTE service considering they’re paying for it.
am also wondering if they'd be able to view if im using safari on private mode.
am also wondering if it makes a difference if I turn off LTE and use my home network Instead.

im not doing anything nefarious or wrong. they understand I’m not working at night when I’m at home. I just don’t want some creepy IT guy knowin everything I’m searching for and what not.

Simple answer is:

1) If it’s In Unsupervised mode, then no.
2) If it’s in Supervised mode then assume that it’s anywhere between no and yes, depending on the settings (e.g. forced VPN always on, newer versions is iOS providing more MDM features etc.)

 

[HappyDude20]

Thank you for all the great and informative replies. I’ve been using Safari on private mode but I was also able to look at the particulars regarding what my employer has access to, which isn’t a lot. Not unless I’m on their server/intranet when in the office. Otherwise Apple is pretty good at keeping my browsing private.

Not doing anything illegal or immoral or wrong. My employer gave me this iPad to use while I’m on the clock in the morning and afternoon but evenings I just use this iPad as I see fit; mainly YouTube videos and googling stuff. I can’t download NetFlix since there’s no App Store on this iPad but no big deal since I have a tv and a mac and an iPhone.

 

[joeblow7777]

omg clix pix did you not see the last paragraph I wrote in which I state that my work knows I’m not working at night and they understand I can use the iPad for leisure as well?

I’m asking if they can track what I do considering it’s an enterprise version of an iPad, not for your moral opinion as to how to use a modern computer.

and some ppl wonder why the spirit of macrumors forums have degraded in the past decade.

clix pix never said that you were doing anything wrong, but you said that you were concerned about your privacy, which is fair. I agree with what clix pix said. It has nothing to do with moral opinion, it’s a straightforward answer to what you’re asking. You can never assume privacy on a device that you don’t own.

 

[Richard8655]

I think there are really 2 ways what you're browsing or viewing can be tracked. Primarily, if connected to your employer's internal network, but sounds like not.

The second is when taking the iPad back to your IT department for maintenance or software upgrade. At that time, access and viewing history can be determined in many ways. This is often through third party apps or other means to track illicit or illegal activity. It's a fairly common practice for employers not only for employee work discipline monitoring, but as company policy for liability reasons.

 

[Dowjohnny]

I have a work issued iPad. I once got it back from IT (service) and they asked me: do you even use it?? Thats me only using it for the company VPN Access, strictly NOT using it for any other private things. So the answer clearly is YES they can see everything, and they obviously were disappointed when snooping through mine.

 

[JBGoode]

The answer is yes. (iS soMetThInG wRonG wiTh yOuR cApS LoCk?)

 

[AutomaticApple]

I can’t download NetFlix since there’s no App Store on this iPad

Is it possible to use the website version of Netflix?

 

[HappyDude20]

LOCK IT UP MODS, MY QUESTION HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY ANSWERED.