Can I hide, or Lock Apps (4s). Recovery from theft

goz83

Hi. I run a small business, which requires a secretary to take calls, even when not in the office and to update our system too. This means the secretary is provided with a Lap-Top computer and an iPhone 4s. (total value circa 1k)

The secretary is from South America and rents over here, so I have some concern that she could decide she doesn't like the job and decides to move somewhere else, as her accommodation patterns have been erratic as an Aupair.

I have a "find my friend" app and of course the "iphone lost" app on the phone, but they can easily be disabled/deleted. Is there a way around this? I was thinking that hiding the apps would go some way of giving me peace of mind if she doesn't turn up one day and can't be contaced, but I can't find an app that does this. The secret folder apps seem to just hide media, rather than other apps. If there is another way, I would love to know this.

She seems like a nice, honest woman, but then; they say similar things about serial killers. Thanks in advance.

Gumbo

Sounds like this would of been a safer and less stressful set up - http://oceanicireland.com/

guil

goz83 wrote: »

Hi. I run a small business, which requires a secretary to take calls, even when not in the office and to update our system too. This means the secretary is provided with a Lap-Top computer and an iPhone 4s. (total value circa 1k)

The secretary is from South America and rents over here, so I have some concern that she could decide she doesn't like the job and decides to move somewhere else, as her accommodation patterns have been erratic as an Aupair.

I have a "find my friend" app and of course the "iphone lost" app on the phone, but they can easily be disabled/deleted. Is there a way around this? I was thinking that hiding the apps would go some way of giving me peace of mind if she doesn't turn up one day and can't be contaced, but I can't find an app that does this. The secret folder apps seem to just hide media, rather than other apps. If there is another way, I would love to know this.

She seems like a nice, honest woman, but then; they say similar things about serial killers. Thanks in advance.

Both of those are useless if the phone goes missing. The first is for find friend close by and the second is basically a web app of the iCloud website allowing you to track another iPhone/iPod/iPad.

What you need to do is enable iCloud and then make sure find my iPhone is enabled and then set up restrictions. There's an option there to stop someone changing settings on the phone

Kxiii

Isn't there a setting on the phone that allows you to restrict what can be done with the phone. Such as not allowing apps to be installed or restricting some features eg. camera with use of a pin. Might be worth looking into.

goz83

kceire wrote: »

Sounds like this would of been a safer and less stressful set up - http://oceanicireland.com/

Not a practical solution for our needs tbh. We need onsite secretary 3-4 days per week and who can take calls and bookings when the office is closed (between certain hours and days of course).

I will look into to what guil said. Sounds like a good option.

I might have done things differently, but I originally had a family member doing this work and there was no problem with trusting her with expensive equipment. She can no longer work for my office, due to family circumstances, so we had about 10 hours to find a replacement and no time to change our system. Luckily, there is no shortage of people looking for work.

biko

Under Restriction you can lock Change Account, this will disable changes to account setting like disabling FindMyiPhone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clI0UYIxdkQ

Also look into Remote Wipe for the computer and phone.

Install logmein on the laptop and hide it. This way you can access the laptop whenever it is connected to the net.
You can remote kick off a batch file to mess it up, delete registry etc.

Stab*City

Do you not have insurance for these types of things? If you dont trust her why give her the job?

vinnycoyne

Stab*City wrote: »

If you dont trust her why give her the job?

This. Seriously.

goz83

Stab*City wrote: »

Do you not have insurance for these types of things? If you dont trust her why give her the job?

I looked into Gadget insurance, but the cover level is pretty pathetic. I haven't read the terms and conditions, but I have a feeling that they would have a clause in there voiding my policy for allowing someone else to have control of the items. This happened with an old boss of mine when his assistant manager decided to return to New Zealand with a company Lap-Top and company phone. Insurance didn't pay out, because he "transferred the items to another persons charge".

There is noboby I would trust fully with the items, other than family/friends with expensive equipment. Hiring someone always has risks. I am coming on here to try to minimise those risks, by seeking information for tracking the items if need be. I'm sure there is little I could do if she jumper a plane back to SA, but if she just decided to drop off the grid here, atleast I could track the item(s) and have the opportunity to retrieve them. The same applies if the phone is stolen. It would be possible to get it back, even if the chance is slim, it's still a chance.

Thanks Biko. I use logmein and will install on the Lap-Top too if I haven't already.

Stab*City

vinnycoyne wrote: »

This. Seriously.

Yes seriously. I wouldnt give someone a laptop and an iphone if i thought they were a flight risk!

Hey vinny why wont my eirtext work anymore?

biko

Tbh you can never know for sure an employee won't just feck off with your stuff.
Even if you trust her, monitoring the equipment still makes business sense.

goz83

Stab*City wrote: »

Yes seriously. I wouldnt give someone a laptop and an iphone if i thought they were a flight risk!

Hey vinny why wont my eirtext work anymore?

Everyone is a flight risk. Granted, some more than others, but there is no way to trust someone you don't know. It's a risk many companies have to take if their staff need equipmment to do their job. I monitored the phone location on the first 2 nights and estableshed (through general conversation) that her boyfriend lives in the area the phone was located over the weekend. I certainly don't intend on checking the phones where abouts every day, but i'm glad I atleast know where I would be looking if she did disappear with my equipment.