I use the uni account for office, but read online that they can access other files and your device. How does that actually work? How to verify?
If someone’s an expert and patient, I would really need step by step help, please please please!
Did you have to install an app called Company Portal or Intune? If no, then they probably don’t have access to your device, except for possibly being able to selectively wipe school data. They could also be using another MDM solution like Airwatch, but again, you would have had to have installed something (and unlikely, since universities get massive discounts on Microsoft licensing).
Even if you do have Company Portal, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s managed as it’s still used to broker communication and authentication between Office apps on Android. The app itself would be able to tell you if the device is managed.
And as the other poster mentioned, if they had you install a root certificate for the university they can intercept and inspect HTTPS traffic from your device while on their network. But that still doesn’t give them access to the data-at-rest on your device.
If your uni asks you to install a certificate or any software on your devices, they would have access to your device. When you connect to a network they own, you can assume they’re inspecting the traffic that crosses those services. A VPN like WireGuard or OpenVPN can help to mask it.