Can't you use a personal mobile device with a 4G connection to access a knowledge database outside the firewall, without moving any data across your employers network? As long as the data you wish to read/write is not sensitive in itself, and it's mostly just plaintext notes that you can read/write from any device, I don't see the issue with that.

> just curious if anyone else is in the same boat.

Yes. Spent a few years building a knowledge base in an offline application. Now I have a new job that doesn't allow me to install software. So all my notes stay at home.

Maybe one day I'll make an export to PDF and use that at work. But I will miss the editing functionality.

On one hand I understand the need to prevent data leaks, malware, etc. On the other hand -- am I supposed to memorize literally everything? Or search everything on Stack Exchange over and over again, hoping that the explanation is there, is correct, and is up to date? Figuring out stuff and making simple notes is my strength. Memory is my weakness. This sucks.

I wonder if it would have been better to install some wiki software on my private website and build my knowledge base online. Reading unknown webs is not forbidden in my current job (the web filter apparently uses blacklists). But maybe in my next job it will be, who knows.

I won't tell you how to circumvent security, but a simple solution seems to be getting your domain 'categorized'. Keep it clean (no malware, not wordpress), strong transport security, and maybe behind basic auth. This should allow you access to the site as needed, from your work environment.

I’m in the same situation, but I can use personal devices at work, and my personal interests and work interests don’t share much overlap, so in practice it’s not much of a problem.

Every now and then I find an external link I want to share with myself, but I’ll just send myself an email with it.