Each year, hundreds, if not thousands, of colleagues are effectively forced to replace their mobile phones in order to retain access to a work profile and Commission applications while on the move. This has probably already happened to many of you!
Although using your personal device for work is not an official requirement – and should not be, as we have repeatedly highlighted in previous notes to the Administration, staff are increasingly expected to be always connected: to reply to emails rapidly, to remain reachable outside normal working hours, to participate in last-minute online meetings, and so on.
To do so, having a work profile installed on your personal mobile is often the only practical solution. However, after only a limited number of operating system (OS) updates, the Commission will inform you that your OS is no longer supported, and you therefore need to update your device.
Fair enough. Operating system providers simply stop releasing security patches after a certain period, which can pose legitimate security concerns. However, in most cases this does not mean that the OS can simply be updated. In practice, colleagues are often forced to buy a new phone altogether.
As a result, EACH YEAR HUNDREDS OF PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL PHONES END UP IN THE BIN. So much for the greening policies! So much for the fight against planned obsolescence!
Without practical solutions and active policies, there is a high risk of greening principles become little more than slogans, quickly turning into greenwashing.
A mobile phone can normally be used safely and efficiently for many years. GENERATION 2004 believes that greening cannot remain a slogan, nor be applied only in ways that worsen staff working conditions, e.g. by lowering office temperatures in winter and literally letting people freeze.
Additionally, buying a new phone every couple of years at a cost of several hundred euros can impose an undue financial burden on staff at the lower end of the salary scale.
GENERATION 2004 believes that this practice is unfair both from the ecological and the social point of view. We therefore urge the administration to find solutions that would allow a more extended use of our personal devices, in line with Commisison policies.
This could include both finding internal technical solutions to keep the required security level for an extended period of time, as well as working actively with OS providers to guarantee updates to all mobile device users in Europe.
Did you experience this issue? Do you have any ideas or comment? We want to hear from you!
It should be investigated if some compromise solution would be feasible, having limited access also with an older Android version, the primary need is to have Nine email&calendar work. Migrating to a new phone means nowadays a lot of work! If it is not possible to have Nine, the webmail login should be made simpler so it would be usable. It is unnecessary that after already authenticating with EU Login, it asks for username and password.
I would be very careful about compromising on IT security. A smartphone with outdated software may appear “perfectly functioning” to a non-technical user but it is in fact a security disaster waiting to happen..
Fortunately, the new EU ecodesign requirements should make it obligatory for suppliers to provide software updates for at least 5 years, so the problem should mostly go away (see https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/product-list/smartphones-and-tablets_en).
It’s also a personal choice to let work-related matters take over after hours. Why don’t the Unions fight against the demands of management that are ruining our family life rather than tackling this problem of excessive electronic demands.
As for me, I refuse to get rid of my old phone, which still works perfectly well on Android 13. When the Commission announced that apps would now only work on Android versions higher than 13, I simply uninstalled them and now have peace and quiet after work.