Clear Path step · Home · Devices that stay yours
Keep work and home on separate sides of the screen
Why it matters: Mixing work and personal accounts lets a family mistake, a personal phishing click or a personal chatbot expose your employer's data, and that can cost you your job. Clear separation also makes it obvious which rules apply where.
On your path if you picked “A work laptop, or work apps on my phone” for “What's connected?”, or you picked “My work” for “What would you hate to lose?”.
Do it
- On an employer's device: don't sign in to personal email, personal cloud storage or personal AI tools, and don't let family members use it, even briefly.
- On your own computer: create a separate user account just for work, with its own password, and sign in to work services only there.
- Save work files only in your employer's approved storage, never in personal cloud folders, personal email or personal chatbots.
- Use only the AI tools your employer has approved for work, signed in with your work account.
- Lock the screen whenever you step away, and keep work calls and screens out of view of smart speakers and cameras where you can.
- If a work device is lost or stolen, report it to your employer before anything else, so they can lock or erase it.
Check it worked: Work happens only in work accounts on a work device or a separate work user account, family members don't use work devices, work files stay out of personal clouds and personal AI tools, and you know who to call first if a work device goes missing.
Simply put
It's like keeping your work bag and the kids' backpacks on separate hooks. When work lives only in work accounts and approved tools, a family click or a personal chatbot stays away from your employer's data.
In detail
Employers increasingly check where their data goes, including into AI tools, so the separation protects you as much as them. If your employer has no rules for personal devices, ask for them; it's a sign the company hasn't thought about what happens if your laptop is stolen.
If this is new to you: Not sure what your employer allows? Ask them: it's a normal question, and it shows you care about their data. Until then, keep work in work accounts only.
Points toward the Long View: a clear line between work and home that protects both your data and your job.