Google brings privacy protections to company-owned devices

New Delhi: Search engine giant Google said that it has expanded Androids commitment to employee privacy in Android 11, by bringing the privacy protections of the work profile to company-owned devices.

Googe said, in Android 11, it its bringing privacy protections to company-owned devices as well, while providing IT the additional capabilities needed to manage company assets.

“Just as IT shouldn’t put company data at risk to enable mobile productivity, employees shouldn’t be asked to reveal private, personal data to their company.  That’s why we’ve expanded Android’s commitment to employee privacy in Android 11, by bringing the privacy protections of the work profile to company-owned devices,” Ian Marsanyi, Product Manager, wrote in the Google blog.

This means IT can deploy the work profile to help protect employee privacy across their entire fleet, regardless if the device is personally or company-owned.

Some of the following are the privacy features

• Asset management protections, even if devices are lost or stolen
   
• Personal usage policies such as restricting what apps employees can use, to keep device usage in compliance with corporate policy
   
• Hardware management, to restrict or prevent configuration of features like Bluetooth, cameras, and removable storage

“We’re pleased to announce that the Android Management API will support these work profile enhancements in July enabling customers and developers to try out these new features on the Android 11 Beta,” Google said.

It further added that exclusive to the Android Management API, it is bringing Android 11’s new combination of strong personal privacy protections and robust asset management features to older Android devices, as far back as Android 8.