Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen has sent a notice to all of its employees that forbids the popular Pokemon Go app on company premises.
Furthermore, employees must not have the app installed on company phones. Volkswagen has explained that the measure is to protect itself from potential leaks of future products, as well as other privacy violations, since the Pokemon Go app uses both a camera and GPS location to reveal Pokemon.
As Volkswagen has explained, playing the game on company premises risks revealing the precise locations of certain company assets, as well as the early reveal of some of the group's models.
Since users of the game often make screenshots of the Pokemon they captured, Volkswagen also fears some of its future products might be leaked this way, even through seemingly innocent screenshots sent to family or friends.
Evidently, there is another significant risk here, as the company’s plants operate heavy machinery, and people should not walk around them while focusing on the screens of their mobile phones.
In case you do not see the risk here, machinery might injure employees because of the distraction caused by playing the famous game, thus the ban brought by the German company.
Volkswagen is not the first company to ban the Pokemon Go app on its premises, as Germany's Bild notes. The same measure was applied by ThyssenKrupp on worker safety concerns.
Other steel mills and factories across the world have forbidden employees to play this game on company premises, even after their schedule is over. You never know when a work accident could happen, so it is best to use every precautionary measure available.
If you think that Volkswagen is wrong to ban the game, consider that the German company has invested billions of euros in product development. VW cannot risk a leak of its patents or designs because one of its employees is walking on company grounds with their smartphone camera on and with GPS activated.
There is also a matter of hacking risks here, as hackers could potentially attack Niantic's servers and they could view images captured by the cameras of the smartphones used to play the game, along with the geotagging that most smartphones apply these days.
As Germany’s Bild reports, some employees have revealed that they do not feel as they are missing out, as company premises only have “common” Pokemon.
As Volkswagen has explained, playing the game on company premises risks revealing the precise locations of certain company assets, as well as the early reveal of some of the group's models.
Since users of the game often make screenshots of the Pokemon they captured, Volkswagen also fears some of its future products might be leaked this way, even through seemingly innocent screenshots sent to family or friends.
Evidently, there is another significant risk here, as the company’s plants operate heavy machinery, and people should not walk around them while focusing on the screens of their mobile phones.
In case you do not see the risk here, machinery might injure employees because of the distraction caused by playing the famous game, thus the ban brought by the German company.
Volkswagen is not the first company to ban the Pokemon Go app on its premises, as Germany's Bild notes. The same measure was applied by ThyssenKrupp on worker safety concerns.
Other steel mills and factories across the world have forbidden employees to play this game on company premises, even after their schedule is over. You never know when a work accident could happen, so it is best to use every precautionary measure available.
If you think that Volkswagen is wrong to ban the game, consider that the German company has invested billions of euros in product development. VW cannot risk a leak of its patents or designs because one of its employees is walking on company grounds with their smartphone camera on and with GPS activated.
There is also a matter of hacking risks here, as hackers could potentially attack Niantic's servers and they could view images captured by the cameras of the smartphones used to play the game, along with the geotagging that most smartphones apply these days.
As Germany’s Bild reports, some employees have revealed that they do not feel as they are missing out, as company premises only have “common” Pokemon.
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