The answer to this question will surprise most readers. The rule to remember is that any thing typed on your work computer belongs to the company. Some email systems save every email send and even drafts so deleting before you send does no good. While you are on your company’s equipment nothing is actually “personal”, it is all company data. Technically speaking, you have no privacy at work.
In some cases, emails might lead to contract disputes and even lawsuits and email records can be subpoenaed by courts.
Work Email Isn’t Private
Work email is work email and therefore it legally belongs to the employer. So, you should expect your employer, or the IT team, to monitor emails sent and received. You should stay very vigilant when using the company email system that anything you say could get you in trouble. Be professional and polite with every word.
Most companies will give written notice of their email policy in the employee handbook or with a periodic memo. It might seems harmless to you if you are just emailing your spouse to inform them that you will be working late, but even in this case, be careful what you say and how you ‘word’ your message. It may very well be read by the IT team. In particular, avoid any words that could be construed as sex, hate, or violence related as these type of words might be flagged and alert the IT team. Keep in mind that some email systems automatically copy all messages that pass through them.
Gmail Activity
Any thing you type on the company’s computer might be monitored and archived. Even if you are using your own Gmail account. This happens because the email system doesn’t know where you are sending, it just knows that you are typing so it saves a copy of it.
General Activity Monitoring
A few of the things that employers can monitor are:
- Time spent on internet
- Web sites visited
- File names of all downloads
- Documents or files stored on your computer
- Anything that is displayed on your computer screen
- How long your computer has been idle
- How many key strokes you type per hour
- E-mails (outgoing and received)
Some companies use software to filter a list of keywords which will then alert the IT department, such as:
- Pron
- Sex
- Promise
- Beat
- Sure thing
- Medication
- Boss
- Social Security Number/SSN
- Patient record
- Client file
- and many other “bad” words.
There is one way to stay out of trouble. Put a load on your phone and use the data connection feature. Then you will have 100% privacy.