How often do colleagues get into each other's devices? The statistics

MacUpdated

In a 2025 survey of 1,000 office workers in Ireland, 30% said they had tried to get into a colleague's device without permission in the previous 12 months. That is the most direct figure we could find. Other surveys measure related things, such as looking at screens or reaching for company data, and we say what each one counted.

Quick answer

The clearest figure comes from IT.ie and SonicWall: in August 2025, 30% of 1,000 office workers in Ireland said they had tried to gain access to a colleague's device without permission in the last 12 months. It is self-reported. Other studies cover company data, screens and phones in general, not colleagues' devices.

How many office workers say they've tried to get into someone else's device?

The survey that asked this most directly was run by Censuswide for IT.ie, an Irish IT managed services company, and SonicWall, a cybersecurity company. IT.ie's release is dated 20 August 2025. Censuswide asked 1,000 office workers in the Republic of Ireland, aged 18 and over.

Two figures matter here, and both are what people said about themselves:

  1. 30% of office workers admitted "that they have tried to gain access to a colleague's device without their permission in the last 12 months".
  2. 35% said they had "actively sought out private information about a colleague, client, or customer such as their age, salary, CV or home address, from a work computer system".

The second figure is about work systems, not a colleague's own laptop or phone. It covers clients and customers too. So it is about looking up private information on work systems, which is a different thing from sitting down at someone else's desk.

The release doesn't say whether those attempts worked or why people tried.

What do IT security teams say about staff and company data?

A survey run by Dimensional Research for One Identity, an identity and access management company, asked 913 IT security professionals in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. One Identity published it on 17 October 2017.

According to the release, 92% of respondents "report that employees at their organizations try to access information that is not necessary for their day-to-day work", and 23% said this happens frequently.

These are IT staff describing other people's behaviour, not employees describing their own. And the question was about information on company systems, not a colleague's computer or phone.

Is looking at someone's screen the same thing?

No. Glancing at a screen is not getting into a device. HP released a survey on 21 October 2019 of about 3,000 consumers and 1,500 office workers across Canada, the UK and the US. In its US findings, "73 percent of office workers creep on coworkers' PC or phone screens".

That figure is self-reported and is about looking, not touching. Our guide on shoulder surfing at work covers that side.

How common is going through someone else's phone in general?

Two studies look at people in general, not workplaces. Neither one is about colleagues.

A paper by Marques and colleagues, presented at the USENIX Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) in 2016, used a list experiment, in which people say how many statements on a list apply to them but not which ones, with 1,381 participants in the United States recruited online. It estimated that 31% had "looked through someone else's phone without permission" in the 12 months before the survey. Weighted to the US adult population, the estimate was 20%.

Secure Data Recovery, a US data recovery company, published a survey on 24 April 2023 of 1,003 people across the United States. It found that "a significant majority of Americans (82%) have snooped through someone else's device at some point". That is self-reported, over a lifetime, and about anyone's device, not only at work.

What do these numbers tell you, taken together?

They point the same way without measuring the same thing. One survey asked office workers about colleagues' devices. One asked IT teams about company data. One asked about screens. Two asked people in general about anyone's phone or device.

So the honest summary is this: in the one survey that asked directly, close to a third of office workers in Ireland said they'd tried to get into a colleague's device in a year. The other studies suggest curiosity about other people's screens and data is common, at work and outside it.

What does the law say, and where do I go next?

This guide is one of a series. Each page below covers one question:

For practical steps on locking up, see how to lock your Mac screen and leaving your laptop at work or in a library.

Where Failshot fits

Your password is the first layer. Failshot is the second: a photo of whoever unlocks your Mac while you're away from your desk.

While it's on, Failshot photographs whoever unlocks your Mac, then, with Pro, records a 5-second video, and its window tells them the unlock was photographed. With the Mac's built-in camera, the green light comes on. With Pro, turn on alerts and Failshot emails you about an unlock you don't confirm as yours, a wrong Failshot PIN or answer, or its camera access being switched off while it's on. An unlock alert carries the photo and the time, with the clip when one was recorded. Switching it off, or quitting it from its menu, takes Touch ID or your Failshot PIN and answer, never your Mac password.

Failshot is for your own Mac, running macOS 14 or later. Free to download. It's free to use. Pro adds video, email alerts and the encrypted vault, and you can try Pro free for 7 days. Your card is taken at sign-up and charged on day 8 unless you cancel. The trial is on failshot.app, for the Mac. iPhone, Android and Windows are coming soon.

More questions

What percentage of office workers snoop on colleagues?

The most direct figure is from Ireland: in a 2025 Censuswide survey for IT.ie and SonicWall, 30% of 1,000 office workers said they had tried to gain access to a colleague's device without permission in the last 12 months.

Are these figures self-reported?

Most are. The IT.ie and SonicWall, HP and Secure Data Recovery figures are what people said about themselves. The One Identity figure is IT staff reporting on other employees. The SOUPS 2016 paper used a list experiment, which estimates a percentage without anyone revealing their own answer.

Is reading someone's screen counted as accessing their device?

Not in these surveys, and not under the UK's Computer Misuse Act. The Crown Prosecution Service says reading data displayed on a screen isn't covered by the unauthorised access offence. Our UK law guide explains more.

Can I use Failshot on my work Mac?

Only with your employer's agreement. It's their device, and they're responsible under data protection law for any monitoring on it. For Failshot, that also means they've agreed Failshot's Organisation Terms and told everyone who uses the laptop before Failshot is turned on.

What's the simplest way to stop someone using my laptop at my desk?

Lock it every time you stand up. On a Mac, Apple lists Control-Command-Q as the shortcut to lock your screen. Our guide on how to lock your Mac screen covers automatic locking and hot corners too.

Sources