Some say that you should never let children play on your phone.
An innocent request to play Candy Crush can easily turn into an embarrassing message to your boss or an accidental selfie posted onto your work intranet. And with the robotic voice of Siri almost spurring kids to get up to mischief on their parents’ phone, it is unsurprising that one working mum fell foul after letting her daughter play on her phone.
Lauren Brown, a Senior Manager from Florida, took to LinkedIn and explained: “In case you’re wondering how my career is progressing, my daughter asked #Siri to call me “Poop Your Pants” which I didn’t realise until I was copied on an email to a client. Let this be a cautionary tale to all you working parents!”
Her daughter had used Siri to change her email and contact information, much to her embarrassment.
While many working professionals said that the prank was “hysterical” and “too funny”, Brown admitted that she was “caught between calling leadership to explain or pre-emptively drafting [her] resignation” – The Mirror reported.
Particularly as Brown was involved in an email chain with a client, this potty talk is unlikely to have done her professionalism any favours.
But it seems that Brown isn’t the only employee to fall victim to a child’s pranks - of course, with a little help from Siri.
Marcia Boyd, a Brand Relations Manager, explained that her daughter had done the same to her Dad who works as an Uber driver.
She recalled: “A passenger had a question and my dad felt proud saying “oh I’ll ask Siri”. When he did, she said “here is what I found online for you, Lady Lumps”. He was so embarrassed. And it wasn’t until after he called me did he learn what lady lumps actually are! Lol. Needless to say, the passenger cracked up laughing.”
While it is unclear about whether Brown was using a work or personal phone, if it was a work phone that she let her daughter play on then it may have caused issues for HR.
If an employer issues a phone for solely work purposes, then they are entitled to check phone logs and recordings to keep an eye on what their employees are doing, according to Citizens Advice. So, if this was a work phone then it may have violated the company’s work phone policy by using company property for personal use.
Additionally, with her emails being accessible on this phone, there is the risk of sensitive data and information getting into the wrong hands. This could have huge ramifications for the company if this was accidentally shared with a third party.
So, HR should ensure that work phone policies are put in place and communicated effectively with employees to prevent any problems from occurring.
Jane