On the agenda was Maastricht University’s information security policy (IB). It states that the IB policy applies to all devices that connect to the UM network. Also private devices. “So, the UM checks my iPhone when I am on the UM network?”, asks Mark Govers, council member on behalf of the academic staff. “Is that not taking things a bit too far?”
“If you want to use a personal device for work, you fall under these rules,” replies security officer Bart van den Heuvel. “But,” he assures, “we only see the online traffic in the UM network. We can’t get at your photographs et cetera.” It is something that employees should know before they log in, says Govers. Van den Heuvel promises to sort that out.
“Also, what if you get push notifications for apps that have nothing to do with work?”, Maarten van Wesel, council member on behalf of administrative and support staff, wants to know. We do see that, says Van den Heuvel. “But you can also choose not to use your own telephone for that.”
Not quite fair, Luana Russo, council member on behalf of academic staff. Many people have to rely on their private telephones, she says. “If I ask my department for a work telephone, I won’t get one. Not even if my personal budget would allow it. ‘You have a telephone in your office’, they say.”