Expert: DebiN - 10/25/2010

Question
Hello,

I have a question that I won't be able to rest until I know the answer to...

I have an iPhone that was issued to me from my employer--it's connected to
our exchange server, has a password policy on it, etc.

Tonight, a friend included me on a distribution list for a multimedia message
(it was sent as MMS--important to note that it wasn't via e-mail) that
contained a short video clip of "adult content" related to the Brett Favre
scandal.  I never solicited the content--I simply received it.  

I deleted it from my message log, and then I responded to the sender and
requested that they not send me anything of that nature, again.  Just to be
clear, I didn't forward the message.

My concern is, is it realistic to think that our telecom admin can discover
this/retrieve the content?  Since it wasn't an e-mail, I'm assuming they
wouldn't have the ability to access anything via Exchange Server features, but
this would be something that, if even possible, would have to come from the
cell provider, themselves.  

Chances are, I'm making a bigger deal of this than I need to.  With the amount
of cell phone users my company has, I doubt anyone has the time to audit
that kind of data--provided they even can.  I'm sure the telecom admin can
see that a MMS message was sent to my phone--I'm just worried that they
could somehow see that it was an inappropriate video clip.  Nonetheless, I've
saved the conversation thread, sans the video portion (I deleted it), in the
event this should ever backfire.

For what it's worth, I'm on an unlimited texting plan, so it's not like a flag
would be raised because I've exceeded my plan limit, etc.

I wanted to inquire about this situation here, as opposed to asking someone
from work--I don't want to raise a flag, if it's not needed.

Thanks for allowing me to ramble!  I look forward to the response.

Answer
Your question is very valid and I completely understand where you are coming from. You are correct, that with an iPhone on the Exchange Server, the MMS and text messages cannot be read by your company. If you had a BlackBerry, however, they could be. Everything goes through a BlackBerry server, but with Exchange, only the email goes through. Internet content is also through the server. You did the correct thing - you deleted the offending video, did not forward, etc. Had you forwarded this or kept it on your device, you could be in breach of your company's policies for offensive material, meaning that since the device belongs to them and if they suspected you of something, they could enforce their policies against you. However, you did nothing wrong. It wasn't your fault that someone sent you something. You can't control that. You did the right thing, deleted the offensive video and sent the sender a message not to send to you again like that. You are fine, believe me. Even if this had happened through email, you would have been fine because you did nothing wrong. Read your company's policies on these types of things and I feel very confident that you will find that it is only when you forward or distribute or originate an offensive message that you are in violation (or keep the offensive content on a work provided device). Don't worry and I totally understand your concern, but I think you have nothing to be concerned about.