F-Secure Elements Mobile Protection for business versus personal use on Android devices This topic explains the difference between work and personal profiles and how these profiles may affect apps such as Mobile Protection.
Elements Mobile Protection is the mobile app accompanied with F-Secure Elements Endpoint Protection (EPP). With EPP, Mobile Protection is designed to complement and be deployed via third-party Mobile Device Management solutions.
Many of these MDM solutions are also designed to work with the Android Enterprise platform. The Android Enterprise platform offers a way of keeping work apps and data separate from personal apps and data by creating separate profiles, see this article. Profiles never share data, so this enables companies to manage their work apps and data without compromising employee privacy.
Companies may use different ways of managing their mobile fleets. For example, companies may allow the use of one's own device (BYOD=Bring Your Own Device) and deploy a work profile on that, or companies may offer fully-managed, company-owned devices intended exclusively for work purposes.
As Mobile Protection is an app offered as an enterprise solution, F-Secure cannot know which type of management solution the company offers. If Mobile Protection is installed on a device with both a work and personal profile in use, Mobile Protection is not able to protect any apps or data on the device's personal profile. This is due the design of the Android Enterprise Platform and how the division between work and personal profiles is managed.
Therefore, if both a work and personal profile is in use on a device with Mobile Protection installed, we highly recommend that one of our consumer products, either F-Secure TOTAL or F-Secure SAFE, is used to protect the apps and data on a personal profile.
However, if companies offer fully-managed company-owned devices, this means that Mobile Protection can be installed and enabled using an enterprise license without the need to buy a separate license.
For more information, visit our product pages for F-Secure TOTAL and F-Secure SAFE.