What is this baloney? I need to install an app on my phone just to log in to Outlook?
It is enforced for all in April.
I don’t have BYOD so I don’t want to use my personal phone. Is there a way around it?
42 replies (most recent on top)
@s0+1jq9pkkbk
"Sorry but I am not going to allow Microsoft access to my personal life"
Are you not running Windows or Office at work or home? Or Teams? or OneDrive? Have you never received a message from a Hotmail or MSN email address? Microsoft has been data mining us for a long, long time.
I tried to save them billions of dollars via WFH, and they refused. Keep boosting, COO and Dr Bert say it's a great idea. Your company is asking you to do it, so...
Thank you for the official mandate and tax deduction.
I must install a MS app on my personal device to authenticate myself on my work device whether or not I am in the office and I already have a hard token. Sorry but I am not going to allow Microsoft access to my personal life and data that they will indeed scrap. Provide a yubi key or secondary hard token I will happily carry both. Next you will hear of some random lawsuit oops sorry something went terribly wrong when you authenticated unfortunately we will now need to confiscate your device. And my bad my phone is a landline please provide installation instructions.
@mw let me guess... You have no clue why they're trying to downsize the US workforce and hire in places where people don't bi--h about installing a 100M+ download Microsoft app on their phone.
If that's how this works, why don't they make us provide every single thing we need to work? Desk? HVAC? Electricity? Lighting? Campus landscaping? Pens, paper, etc., where does it end?
It's at will employment. Choosing not to do what they require is effectively a resignation.
I think this is actually illegal if we don't own a smartphone that the BYOD program allows? It's really buy a new phone for work or get fired?
If it's that important, they can issue me a cell. It's $20/month for service for big corps. Clearly THEY don't think it's worth it, so why should I, exactly? My device is my device. I don't share the number or do any work stuff on it. all my numbers in HRs systems are my laptop soft phone.
They don't support my smartphone, why is the BYOD support so limited? Am I really expected to go out any buy a second phone for this?
@g9 It's not "their stuff" it's an MS app that 100+ Million people have installed on their phones.
You'll take a picture of a QR code that loads WF's token into the MS app.
Stay angry, my coworker.
If you get the install cloud pc garbage pay attention as you can’t do what I’m going to say in the last week prior to load. Start the process and see somewhere it says “I can’t do authenticator” or something like that. Then there are three choices 1) my device can’t load it or I don’t have a device 2) I don’t want to load a third party app on my phone 3) can’t remember but didn’t apply to most people.
I chose 2 and it said we will get back to you in next week. Two business days later I got the you don’t have to go to the cloud yet email.
I have no problem loading their stuff on their devices. Stay off mine.
@f1 what if my cell phone gets confiscated when I come back from my cruise to Mexico, because I post anti-Trump content on Bsky?
Ridiculous to game out every what if.
@e8 seriously, quit and get a different job if it's too much of an inconvenience. You honestly don't have a cell?
Who gets to decide who is an “ expert”?
Everyone excusing this are ignoring the fact that they could just as easily adopt a system where an input initiated on our workprovided devices/VDI generates either a text or automated phone call sending a code to a number we provided, which is then can be entered back into the work device to authenticate. No third party app or smart phone needed. Like pretty much every bank offers as an authentication mechanism for their customers using online banking.
No one needs to use their personal device or BYOD to do their job. If you must have one because you are on call i am sure you will be reimbursed. Otherwise you want to use WF apps (your personal use of outlook leverages a WF license) don’t use it and just log into your WF approved device.
I can't believe I'm going to say this as someone who is holding out for a pakcage, but...
If you can't be bothered to have a cell phone in this day and age, and put a legitimate authentication app on it, just quit and find a job where you can live in the 1800s or grow the eff up.
If our personal device breaks, what are we supposed to do? Use up our PTO until we get our hands on another because we can’t actually fulfill our job requirements? Ask a significant other or friend to lend us their device so we can download a work app onto it? This seems so poorly thought out.
Qualms about something like this can be about the general principle o and not the specific actual impact and still be perfectly valid.
Google and Apple validate the applications before they are loaded in the app stores.
Security experts recommend authentication apps for accessing websites as an extra layer of security.
But nah, conspiracy tards would rather ignore the experts.
“People think this app is giving WF access to their personal device. which it isnt.”
Have you looked at the source code for the app? If not, then you don’t actually know this for a fact.
I think the most egregious part of it is that it forces people to have to own a smart phone to do their job. Some people actively choose not to have them for quality of life reasons. What are those people supposed to do? They have to go out and buy an iPhone or Android within the next 11 days to be able to continue using outlook and teams? It’s not just the requirement itself but also the short notice and minimal explanation with which it was communicated that is absurdly unbecoming of an allegedly professional organization.
People think this app is giving WF access to their personal device. which it isnt. It's no different than any other authenticator app employed by any number of company, sites, and apps. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Now, in terms of legality and what they can do if someone refuses. that is a different story which I am sure a lawsuit will sort out because you know someone will sue.
There are alternative measures that can be used to not have to use this. I would also think it possible they could bypass it somehow if you are connecting from one of the in office this clients which in that case they could make it to where you are only allowing to have a laptop and work hybrid if you use the app. Who knows, but this is nothing to get your undies in a bunch about.
Thumb print? lol, I don't ever that kind of data info into any device. Better do something with codes or some sh-t.
Really don't understand the pushback/fear of this. When I was forced to do it last year, I had the same knee-je-k reaction, but before coming here to author some spammy wall of angry text, I researched the app, then realized there was nothing to worry about.
"and sets ms authenticator requires internet connection to work that factors into a person's monthly cell phone bill."
It's a text prompt for 2 characters, then a thumbprint. It's likely sending a tiny ascii/json req/ack. Acting like that is going to cost you money in the era of unlimited data wireless plans is silly. You use more data posting your FUD on this website than you'll use in a full workweek authenticating via the app.
Besides, if you have an MS account (do you use windows at home?) this is a way to have passwordless access to your own machine. Like mentioned earlier, this is purely an MS product that will use a token from WF to generate your time codes for authenticating to Azure/360 services.
Seems like an awfully d-mb thing to get fired for.
I'm sorry, what phone?
If you are using a workspace hub you can log into Teams and Outlook without using Cloud PC; the only thing you can't get to is One Drive.
Oh boy. Authenticator app means you are all gonna get DOGED here shortly
In the cyber security Town Hall our CISO said accessing any resource in the cloud will require you to use your personal phone and have MS authenticator installed on it to access said resources.
What he didn't highlight though was how you are given a choice to be excluded from this however if you exclude yourself from this then you are marked for termination because they're going to use it as a means that you cannot do the job you are hired to do you're basically refusing to work.
On the flip coin of this thought process depending on what state you're in and if you are salary or hourly there is very high probability that this is viewed as illegal to force your employees to utilize their personal phone for corporate work without reasonable compensation and sets ms authenticator requires internet connection to work that factors into a person's monthly cell phone bill.
What I could say is it's very unlikely our CEO is behind this Charlie doesn't look smart enough to understand this type of technology from a technical perspective let alone the end user perspective... I think this is driven by our cyber security line of business executives because they're watching webinars of the information technology industry being hacked by the cloud.
Ironically it's no coincidence that this is happening at the same time all of cyber security's executive leadership is on company retreat in India... Looks like the American workforce is about to be laid off and India is about to start using YouTube stackflow deep seek co-pilot and chat GPT to do the job that Americans were doing...
Even if you are not on Cloud PC yet, you will not be able to get to Teams or Outlook without it. If you drive into work and forget your phone - too bad, so sad, no meetings for you!!!
It’s not a problem if you are in India. Only American employees had their corporate cell phones taken away.
This is why everyone should reject BYOD. Once they took my corporate phone away, I said ok, no thanks.
Good luck refusing to do it - because when you get transitioned to Cloud PC you won't be able to log in without it.
I signed an atteststation affirming I wasn’t going to use my own personal device, but less than a month later, I’m now forced to use Authenticator on my own personal device. I’m pretty sure the top brass will eventually we-ponize this against employees as a way to justify firing/layoffs due to the employee citing a security risk. I wouldn’t put anything past these sneaky rats at this point!
If they ever require me to do this I will ask for a corporate phone. Like I aint using my phone for work. No sir.
Seems a fairly petty thing to get your pa-ties in a wad over.
I'm sure you've downloaded d-mber apps.
@a5+1jq9pkkb I agree 100% ABSOLUTE BS they do this. I hate them all so much, please, give me the ticket out of here.
I don’t have phone.