Elizabeth Leigh
Mark Michels, Deloitte Discovery director at Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics, said knowing the downside of bring-your-own-device programs and planning for them in advance puts organizations halfway to solving some of the greater legal challenges of smartphone technology in the workplace.
“Understanding how mobile device use differs by global region, the risks un-vetted applications bring and the need to be consistent with corporate culture can be helpful in right-sizing both BYOD compliance policies and mobile data preservation strategies,†Michels said Tuesday.
Deloitte cited its recent online survey on smartphone usage, which found that in the past year, 15.1 percent of 1,680 respondents indicated their companies have had to preserve information from their mobile phones in connection with a regulatory inquiry, internal probe or litigation.
Half of polled professionals – who come from banking, securities, retail and distribution, technology, industrial products and other sectors –belong to organizations with BYOD programs.
The poll identified always-evolving data formats, quick application development, and the auto-delete feature of mobile phones as the top three challenges for mobile data preservation.
Nearly 27 percent of respondents said their companies update BYOD policy on mobile data preservation every year.
“Executives and boards who think about discovery issues well before they experience an event stand to create clear management and collection strategies that work well for both IT and legal teams,†Michels said.
