Expert: DebiN - 11/14/2009

Question
QUESTION: I purchased my iPhone and pay the bill each month. It is in no way subsidized by my employer. I am linked to the work server and send and receive e-mails that way. One of the IT guys at our company said that they can see everything on a Blackberry, including the content of text messages. I have read this is possible through the BES (Blackberry Exchange Server). My question, is this true, and if so, can they see my text messages on my iPhone? I wouldn't think so as the BES does not work with iPhones. I do understand that as I am connected to their server, my e-mails can be read but can they track internet log in times and web history on my iPhone as well?

ANSWER: Your work emails, i.e., emails sent to and from your work address, can be read by your employer. They are stored on your company's exchange server. It doesn't matter whether you send the messages from your work computer or your personal iPhone, if the email is sent or received from your work email address, your company has a record of all transactions. If you are using your iPhone for both personal and work email and you send and receive via your personal email address, your employer cannot read these messages. They don't have access to what is on your iPhone. They cannot see the internet sites you go to or your web history in any way. They can only see emails to and from your work address. It is correct that if you have a BlackBerry that has a BES plan that your company can track and view everything, i.e., internet sites, SMS messages, email, etc., but with a personal device, the only thing that they can view is your corporate email. The information does not go through their servers like it does with a BlackBerry, only the email goes through the corporate server. With a BlackBerry, all BlackBerry data goes through the BlackBerry server which also communicates with their Exchange server. There's an extra piece in the middle with BlackBerry. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,
Do Blackberry's that were purchased by the individual and the plan is paid for by the individual, not the company, go through a BES also, or do only company provided Blackberry's go through a BES?
If I send a text from my iPhone to a person with a Blackberry, can it be read because it went through the BES?

Thanks again!

Answer
If the data plan that is associated with the BlackBerry is the $45.00 BES plan and the device is set up for Enterprise Activation so that the device communicates through the company BES server, then the data all goes through the company's BES server. It doesn't matter who paid for the device or who pays the bill. Though the company cannot access phone records on a personal liability or paid device, they can see all text messages that are sent because they go through the BES. That doesn't mean that they view them or even that they capture them. They have the ability to do this, but it is very unlikely that they do. Most companies do not capture text information. It doesn't matter from what phone you send - the person with the BlackBerry that is associated with the BES should know that messages sent to them can be viewed, if the company chooses to capture this information. If the person has a personal email that they receive email on the BlackBerry as well as their corporate email, their company cannot view the email coming to the personal account. You can have up to 11 email accounts coming to a BlackBerry. I would recommend that if the person you are texting has a company-owned BlackBerry and the company has policies on text messaging, I would stop sending them texts. Like I said, it doesn't mean that they do read the messages, but they can if they choose. They can also block texts or prohibit incoming and outgoing texts from the BES without even going through the carrier. I hope this helps. Thanks. DebiN