In France, 7 million people own two phones: one for work and one for personal use, according to a 2020 study by Arcep. A new update could change some of their habits.

Are mobile phones being scrutinized by employers? A new Android update will allow certain company-issued mobile phones to make RCS messages and SMS available to the company, as explained by Android Authority.

All Android devices managed by a company will therefore be equipped with archiving, allowing the company to retain all communications from RCS, SMS, and MMS messages. Google presents this tool as "reliable" for professionals.

"Compliance with legal obligations"

Messages covered by data sharing to the employer will remain end-to-end encrypted (protected during sending and strictly reserved for the sender and recipient) but will become accessible when the storage of the mobile phone concerned is archived, which can take place regularly.

For Google, the goal is to enable "all the advantages of RCS while ensuring that the organization complies with its legal obligations." As Le Point specifies, even though SMS is considered more private than email, when it is sent or received on a work mobile phone, it is no longer considered private, as the Court of Cassation affirmed in 2015, recalls lawyer Mathieu Bourdet.

"The employer can therefore legally consult them even without the presence of the employee, as long as they are not identified as personal. For the CNIL, this function follows the same logic as for professional emails, which the employer can read if they do not indicate anything personal," the French media outlet therefore indicates.