Privacy at Work: Your Computer is a Window to Your Soul

Email Monitoring

Email is not subject to wiretapping or letter opening laws since the company owns your desktop machine and all the servers that store and distribute your email on its way through your company’s network. The best approach in this case is to use one of the many free, web-based email services to have a separate mailbox for business and personal messages. When you log in at work, however, you’re still not guaranteed privacy, but it’s a much better idea than sending raunchy jokes through an @yourcompany.com address.

Web Surfing

When you browse the Internet, pieces of every site you visit are left behind on your computer’s hard drive. These include cookies, favourites, browser history, and images. The first step then is to physically remove these files after visiting a naughty corner of the web. Wiping your tracks this way may prevent someone using your PC from stumbling upon your dark secrets casually, but it won’t stop an employer that actively monitors your Internet connection. Any information moving in or out of your computer, except encrypted data, can be recorded. Suspicious activity can be easily flagged for future review. There are many devices and software products that claim to circumvent this type of monitoring and clean up those incriminating files automatically. You can find information about these and many other excellent privacy tools at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Instant Messaging (IM)

The good news is that most companies at present do not monitor information sent over the common free IM products – unless you’ve set them to keep log files of your conversations. The monitoring that does exist, however, can be either workstation or network based. Most IM programs are fundamentally unsecure and should never be used to discuss sensitive topics. In any case, it’s a good idea to limit your instant messaging at work as many consider it to be completely unprofessional.

Conclusions

A good personal policy is to assume that your computer use at work is simply not private. Indulging your interest in marijuana cultivation is something you might want to save for home. Just like a desk phone, everyone uses their work computer for personal matters sometimes, just be aware that your computer habits may be reveal more about yourself than you’d like your boss to know.

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