For those folks who like to "goof off" on your employer's time, you might want to be aware that they may see everything you type.

Silent Watch

-- Anita (notgiving@anymore.thingee), March 08, 2000

Answers

Oh well. This may contribute to the general malaise in the workplace. Treat employees like adults and they will act accordingly. Treat them like children and they'll find other ways to misbehave.

-- liu (lookitup@dictionary.com), March 08, 2000.

If the IT department at my company does not have this software, is there any way they can monitor what I do? I am painfully clueless about these things. There was a discussion about this in my department a while back and no one else knew either. Can they see deleted e-mail? We delete everything we can find to delete- e-mail, history, cookies. Is there anything else we can do? Can they see where I go on the internet? Please enlighten the stupid.

-- jeileen (tjfarrar@bellsouth.net), March 09, 2000.

Jeileen,

If the IT department at my company does not have this software, is there any way they can monitor what I do?

Yes. Various commercial programs, like PC Anywhere, etc, can allow remote monitoring of your screen. Many companies deploy stuff like that so administrators and even help desk personnel can install, configure, and troubleshoot, but it also can be used simply to watch.

Can they see deleted e-mail? We delete everything we can find to delete- e-mail, history, cookies. Is there anything else we can do?

If your email is actually stored on a server and not your PC, then even if you delete it, there are probably backups of the server that can be restored and reviewed.

Also, it's possible to save any outgoing email messages from a given address. It's possible to save ALL outgoing mail, but even with small companies the volume of saved messages gets overwhelming.

Can they see where I go on the internet?

Yes. This is the easiest thing to capture and monitor.

Now, all that being said... There are very few major companies who really care that much. You usually have to be a problem employee, or an over-the-top offender (like the guy in that article) before a company is going to bother coming down on you. This is usually because others in your company are doing it too (surfing, personal emails, posting to forums :^) and it's just to hard for a company to transform itself into a police state for the sake of principle.

I once worked in a capacity where I (and others in my group) would see reports sent automatically from our firewall detailing all the off-limits XXX type sites that were visited that day, and by whom. We'd send emails to the chronic offenders, (which would have immediate results :^), but pretty much ignored everything else. We didn't get hired to be cops, we figured. Plus we were amazed at the top management who sometimes found themselves at those sites.

It depends on your corporate culture. Smaller firms, especially private firms, will probably be more strict, but can really find themselves in quick litigation if they fire someone with no attempt at warning, especially if that person has had good performance appraisals, etc, in the past. Bottom line: Like everything else, moderation is the key.

-- Bemused (and_amazed@you.people), March 09, 2000.

Thanks! I don't do anything that would get me fired, but I hate having no privacy. From now on I'll check out the "outre" stuff at home.

-- eileen (tjfarrar@bellsouth.net), March 09, 2000.