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jonjames505

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2017
95
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I have an enterprise issued iPad 5th gen (2017) cellular model with AT&T service. I’m considering purchasing an iPad Pro personally, and am wondering if there would be any issues putting my employers SIM card into a personal device? Would it notify them in any way?
 
I have an enterprise issued iPad 5th gen (2017) cellular model with AT&T service. I’m considering purchasing an iPad Pro personally, and am wondering if there would be any issues putting my employers SIM card into a personal device? Would it notify them in any way?

If it's something you can't ask your employer for permission to do, you shouldn't do it.
 
If it's something you can't ask your employer for permission to do, you shouldn't do it.
Fair enough but I’m sure they’d want me using their supervised device for business purposes vs my own.
 
This is a legit question though. IT departments will always protect themselves by urging the most complaint approach, which favors the supervised device here. However, their reasons for imposing a device profile may not elide with their reasons for providing an employee with cellular service. Moreover, there's probably not a strict policy against using the SIM card in a non-supervised device, in part because the issue may not have come up previously.

In light of all that, I think the original question is worth considering: Completely apart from what company rules hypothetically may require, could using the SIM card itself trigger a notification to the company? Is there a technical reason why using the company SIM card in a personal device would be problematic?
 
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This is a legit question though. IT departments will always protect themselves by urging the most complaint approach, which favors the supervised device here. However, their reasons for imposing a device profile may not elide with their reasons for providing an employee with cellular service. Moreover, there's probably not a strict policy against using the SIM card in a non-supervised device, in part because the issue may not have come up previously.

In light of all that, I think the original question is worth considering: Completely apart from what company rules hypothetically may require, could using the SIM card itself trigger a notification to the company? Is there a technical reason why using the company SIM card in a personal device would be problematic?
It might be just my country but legally speaking we should not use company devices for personal reasons. I cannot explain it in details but the company pays taxes for the devices we use and the services we use. If we use it for personal gain, we put the company in legal danger.

I am not saying that I don't use my company laptop or phone for something personal from time to time but putting a SIM card to a personal device where the company cannot monitor your device seems to be a violation of the company rules. At least for my company it would be.
 
This is a legit question though. IT departments will always protect themselves by urging the most complaint approach, which favors the supervised device here. However, their reasons for imposing a device profile may not elide with their reasons for providing an employee with cellular service. Moreover, there's probably not a strict policy against using the SIM card in a non-supervised device, in part because the issue may not have come up previously.

In light of all that, I think the original question is worth considering: Completely apart from what company rules hypothetically may require, could using the SIM card itself trigger a notification to the company? Is there a technical reason why using the company SIM card in a personal device would be problematic?
From a technical perspective it should work. However, I still feel that the OP should take the permission question to management for their explicit OK (I say that as a retired technical manager).
 
It might be just my country but legally speaking we should not use company devices for personal reasons. I cannot explain it in details but the company pays taxes for the devices we use and the services we use. If we use it for personal gain, we put the company in legal danger.

I am not saying that I don't use my company laptop or phone for something personal from time to time but putting a SIM card to a personal device where the company cannot monitor your device seems to be a violation of the company rules. At least for my company it would be.

I'm retired but we were not allowed to use personal devices for anything related to work.
 
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It might be just my country but legally speaking we should not use company devices for personal reasons. I cannot explain it in details but the company pays taxes for the devices we use and the services we use. If we use it for personal gain, we put the company in legal danger.

I am not saying that I don't use my company laptop or phone for something personal from time to time but putting a SIM card to a personal device where the company cannot monitor your device seems to be a violation of the company rules. At least for my company it would be.
Understood, but I was trying to take the question beyond what rules may govern OP's conduct (which I think was OP's intent as well). I'm not suggesting anyone do anything in particular.
 
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Understood, but I was trying to take the question beyond what rules may govern OP's conduct (which I think was OP's intent as well). I'm not suggesting anyone do anything in particular.
So in essence you ARE suggesting the OP question going beyond the employer's rules that govern the OP's conduct. 😉
 
So in essence you ARE suggesting the OP question going beyond the employer's rules that govern the OP's conduct. 😉
Not at all, because I do not know OP's situation or any specifics of the rules that govern his conduct. Also, his situation may fall into a grey area in that his employer might have a legitimate interest in paying for him to be online, he may be planning to be using his personal iPad for business (which many employers allow), but he may nevertheless feel uncomfortable using his managed iPad for everything he does. I think it would be appropriate to help him with the technical aspect of this (what information does a SIM card transmit or could it transmit to an employer) without engaging in conjecture as to his employer might or might not allow as a matter of procedure.

I do recognize that someone could use this to violate their company's rules, but I'm guessing that there might not always be a rule that addresses precisely this question.
 
...I do not know OP's situation or any specifics of the rules that govern his conduct. ..... but I'm guessing that there might not always be a rule that addresses precisely this question.
In summary... the OP should ask his employer.

Reminds me of the old children's ploy: Dad can I...? Ask your mother! ... Mom, Dad said it was Ok! :cool:

... but bluespark said I could on MacRumors! 🤣
 
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In summary... the OP should ask his employer.

Reminds me of the old children's ploy: Dad can I...? Ask your mother! ... Mom, Dad said it was Ok! :cool:

... but bluespark said I could on MacRumors! 🤣
I guess we're locked into treating this as a question about rules and policy rather than as a technical question. Too bad.
 
I guess we're locked into treating this as a question about rules and policy rather than as a technical question. Too bad.
There is no question it is technically feasible; it is rather a question of morals.

The question simply put is can a person utilize a service or equipment an employer provides an employee for personal use without permission?
 
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There is no question it is technically feasible; it is rather a question of morals.

The question simply put is can a person utilize a service or equipment an employer provides an employee for personal use without permission?
The OP's question wasn't about whether he should seek permission but rather whether or not his unauthorized use (which obviously is different from impermissible use) would "notify them in any way." That's not a moral question.
 
The OP's question wasn't about whether he should seek permission but rather whether or not his unauthorized use (which obviously is different from impermissible use) would "notify them in any way." That's not a moral question.
We disagree, unauthorized use is theft plain and simple. It most likely won't notify anyone but can show up in an audit.
 
The OP's question wasn't about whether he should seek permission but rather whether or not his unauthorized use (which obviously is different from impermissible use) would "notify them in any way." That's not a moral question.

He can solve the problem by simply notifying them himself before he did it. Then he will know whether it is an issue or not.
 
I still would not do that. If there were ever a legal problem with the company, your personal iPad could be caught in the fray, because you inserted the company SIM into your iPad.

Keep it separate.
 
I still would not do that. If there were ever a legal problem with the company, your personal iPad could be caught in the fray, because you inserted the company SIM into your iPad.

Keep it separate.
Even with using my personal Apple ID? How would they have any control over anything on the iPad or the iPad hardware? Worst they could do is deactivate the SIM assigned to me, right?
 
I still would not do that. If there were ever a legal problem with the company, your personal iPad could be caught in the fray, because you inserted the company SIM into your iPad.

Keep it separate.

I mentioned above that our company disallowed the use of personal devices for work but it didn't used to be that way. One day an employee sent out an email that inadvertently contained highly classified information in the text he wrote. All recipients of that email had every device they used that they received email on "cleaned", including personal devices. Objection was not an option. That was classified data, but the same could happen with sensitive proprietary data. Thus ended the use of personal devices. (This was a very large company)
 
Even with using my personal Apple ID? How would they have any control over anything on the iPad or the iPad hardware? Worst they could do is deactivate the SIM assigned to me, right?
Yes, they could deactivate the SIM. You will muddy the privacy waters if you us the company SIM on your private device. If you do that and a legal problem arises with the company, you could be put in a position where you are required to turn over or grant access to your iPad, because you used your personal device for company business, even though you were issued a company iPad.

Keep work devices separate from personal devices.
 
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