Lost: 10m mobile devices in one year

EE warns that myriad staff smartphones, tablets, laptops and other gadgets go missing across Britain

Ten million smartphones, tablets, laptops and other gadgets ostensibly being looked after by employees went missing across the UK in the past year.

That is according to a survey proffered by mobile telecoms company EE, which reckons large volumes of sensitive or confidential business information and data are being put at risk.

Gerry McQuade, chief marketing officer for business at EE, said business data must be kept secure.

"More often than not, employees will use their personal mobile device to access company emails, documents or presentations, unaware that they may be putting sensitive data at risk. What's important is that business data is secure, whether accessed from a company-owned device or not," McQuade said.

According to EE's poll by Vision Critical, which surveyed 2,000 UK consumers in March 2014, one in five respondents said they had lost their mobile device on a work night out, and one in six said they had left theirs on public transport. Other popular loss locations included taxis and toilets.

Meanwhile, mobile technology was getting faster and handling more data – potentially putting even more data at risk over time, according to EE, which recently signed a 4G partnership with mobile security vendor MobileIron with a view to marketing a series of related 4G bundles to business customers.