Advice on the Use of Personal Digital Assistants
In collaboration with MTS, Technology Direction have recently been 
investigating the technology and use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) 
in the BBC.
These devices raise many issues, not least being:

their potential for compromising information security
the integrity of systems to which they attach
the exposure of users to health & safety risks.
Taking a broad view across these issues, Technology Direction has published 
this note to assist staff who already use, or might be considering the 
purchase of a PDA.

It is important to note that this is not a critique of individual products 
or brands. Instead, it gives advice to purchasers who might be thinking of 
connecting their PDA to a BBC desktop and exchanging data between the two. 
This is (in theory) prohibited because of the compromises noted above. 
However, there is a clear recognition that many staff have successfully 
connected, and are using their own PDA for the benefit of the BBC as well as 
themselves.

While it would be churlish to enforce an outright ban, there are serious 
risks to the BBC in allowing this Œwell-intentioned anarchy‚ to continue. By 
developing a more professional approach, a suitable compromise can be 
reached which addresses the major issues of information security and 
support, while maintaining a degree of flexibility in the choice of device.

After much investigation, the only platform upon which adequate security and 
virus protection measures can currently be provided is Microsoft‚s Pocket 
PC-2002. The operating system and applications which are provided 
Œin-the-box‚ give a sophisticated range of security tools. Further, the 
specifications for devices to run Pocket PC-2002 require a number of 
hardware measures to be implemented, such as power on passwords, auto power 
off, signature recognition etc.

Palm & Psion owners need not panic!
There is no plan to prohibit your devices overnight. Instead, there will be 
an extended period of amnesty (probably 18 months or so), during which 
connections will be permitted given certain agreements between users and 
their technology support provider, acting on behalf of Technology Direction.
In general terms, the advice is simple - If you intend to connect your PDA 
to the BBC desktop, you should buy a PDA which is running Pocket PC-2002. 
The brand and model you choose is not especially important, although Compaq 
& Toshiba are clear product leaders. Psion and Palm-OS based devices (Palm, 
Handspring, Sony) will not run Pocket PC-2002 and therefore cannot be 
properly secured. Therefore, these are not recommended if you intend to 
connect. (They are still outstanding products!)

Once the chosen device has been bought (irrespective of the brand, model or 
operating system) it will be necessary from January 2002 for all users to 
register their intention to connect to the BBC desktop, so that the 
appropriate guidance can be given on Data Protection and Health and Safety 
matters.

During the amnesty period, Psion, Palm and Pocket PC-based PDAs will still 
be allowed to connect. Users will be expected to abide by BBC advice on how 
to configure their PDA to give best protection, however imperfect that may 
be.

Unregistered devices regardless of type will be prohibited and only 
registered devices running Pocket PC-2002 (or higher) will be permitted 
after the amnesty period.

Data Protection and Health and Safety
It is important to bear in mind that by synchronising your PDA with your 
desktop you are transferring BBC owned information for which the BBC is 
responsible and obliged to take measures to protect eg virus attacks which 
may compromise information integrity and availability.
The transfer of personal data (ie your Contacts folder) is governed by the 
Data Protection Act which places significant obligations on organisations to 
protect the rights of individuals to have their information used 
responsibly.

The BBC Health and Safety policy governs use of computer equipment including 
PDAs. It encourages safe behaviour and places an obligation on staff not to 
take risks or endanger themselves. Prolonged use of devices should be 
avoided. RAS and Webmail are provided for the purpose of connecting to BBC 
systems when away from the office and should be used in preference.

If you want to comment on this note, you can do so on talk.gateway

If you want to register your device you can do so here.