Legitimate Reasons for Employer Device Access There are valid reasons why an employer might need to access an employee’s phone, regardless of ownership: Legal Compliance: To comply with legal requests such as subpoenas or investigations. Security Breaches: To investigate potential security breaches or data leaks. Violation of Company Policy: To investigate violations of company policies regarding acceptable use. Employee Termination: Upon termination, to retrieve company data and ensure a smooth transition.

https://www.aeanet.org/can-an-employer-take-your-phone/#Can_an_Employer_Take_Your_Phone_Exploring_Workplace_Device_Confiscation

Let’s be generous and say your employer considers your phone a personal device even though they pay for the service.

For an employer to legally track a personal phone’s location, they need explicit consent from the employee and must have narrowly defined policies.

https://legalclarity.org/can-my-employer-track-my-work-phone-location/

Is there anything stopping them from hiding a tracking policy in your contract? Did you fully read the contract to check? Would allowing them to pay for the service count as consent in court? IANAL, but why would you risk it, when you could just have a work phone you only use for work.