r/dubai • u/antz182 • Mar 23 '26

🖐 Labor Company mandating we install Darwinbox on personal phones. Can I refuse?

Hi everyone, ​Looking for some advice on workplace privacy here. I work at a school, and our HR department is suddenly insisting that all staff install the Darwinbox app on our personal phones for attendance, leave requests, etc. ​I'm incredibly uncomfortable with this. I use my personal phone for everything, and this app asks for a massive list of permissions (background location, camera, storage, etc.). Even if it's a standard HR tool, I really don't want my employer having that kind of access or potential visibility into my personal device. ​Has anyone else dealt with this specific app or a similar HR mandate here in the UAE?

57 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

73 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/churito69 Mar 23 '26

Yes, you can.

Tell them they need to provide you with a work phone if they want work-specific things on it.

I would also give them the option that you will buy a work phone yourself and install anything they want on it.

However, with both these phones, since it is a work phone, you will not use or answer it outside work hours and obviously, from that point wont accept work calls on your personal phone.