Mobile technology has become an important tool for many city employees. The City currently provides and pays for service for over 100 devices (both cell phones and mobile data terminals).

This policy establishes a policy that clarifies those circumstances where it is appropriate for the city to provide wireless service to an employee for the performance of their duties and gives options as to how that service will be provided.

The biggest change in this policy from the existing practice is that the city will offer eligible employees a $25.00/month stipend for use of their personal device.

The biggest concern with this policy is data practices.  Employees opting to use their personal device for city business must be aware that in the event there is a data practices request, employees must report certain data in accordance with the law.  This will include work related (not personal) text messages and phone records.  Personal information on personally owned devices is not available through public data requests.  Emails on personally owned devices will be retained through the city's server and are not of concern.

Data security is also of concern.  This policy allows for the IT division to create rules related to password protection and mobile device management to ensure data security when data is stored on a personally owned device.

The $25/per month stipend is set at that level to ensure that each device transitioned from city-paid to a stipend will result in a cost savings for the city.