If you are one of the over 4,000 employees who connect to King County email on a mobile device (mobile phone or tablet) we’d like tell you about a new service coming your way. This service is called Mobile Device Management (MDM) and it is designed to protect both your information and County information on your mobile device. 

You can benefit from this service whether you are using a County-owned or a personal device. Enrollment in the MDM system only takes a few minutes, and with it you get peace of mind by knowing we can help you locate your device if it’s lost or stolen, selectively remove County information from your device which helps to protect King County’s data and network, and even remotely reset the device to factory defaults (upon your request only) should you lose it, which protects your personal information from exposure.

The system will not infringe on your privacy. We don’t track your location, what apps are installed on the device, phone calls, texts, or any personal information.

What will change?

If you currently do not use any kind of passcode on your mobile device, MDM will require you to set one. This is designed for your protection and the protection of the County’s information on your mobile device. The passcode is quite flexible so if you currently have one set you can probably keep the one you have (unfortunately Apple products do seem to require you to change your passcode after enrollment). The passcode must be a minimum of 4 characters. However you can use a password, PIN (numbers only) or even a swipe pattern (with at least 4 points). The password will not expire every 90 days – but if you incorrectly enter your passcode 15 times in a row your mobile device will be reset to the factory default because the system will think the device is no longer in your possession.

MDM enrollment is optional right now, but we anticipate making this mandatory for all devices that are connected to King County email by March, 2015.

For more Information, enrollment instructions and more visit: our MDM SharePoint site. This site is frequently updated. If you have questions, check the FAQs on the above SharePoint site. If you have a question that is not in the FAQs send your question to infosec@kingcounty.gov we will answer your question and add it to the list.