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by Drublic on December 1st, 2006

Drublic

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If I send emails from my work computer through an internet based email (Yahoo, Gmail, etc.), can my company still go back and read the email like they can if I use my Lotus Notes based work email address?

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Answers. 7 helpful answers below.

  • by Karl Plesz on December 3rd, 2006

    Karl Plesz

    They can't read the message content on Yahoo etc. as easily as using the company email system, because the company email system has its own mail server and it's under their control. As others have said, if you are using a public service like Yahoo or Hotmail and you are not encrypting your email, your work can still intercept the data and determine what you're communicating. Worse case, even if you're encrypting, they could still have monitoring software installed right on your PC that allows them to peek at what you're doing - live or recorded for later viewing.

    To the person who said "If they are tracking personal e-mail with personal content this is a violation of your privacy and opens the door for you to file a lawsuit" - that is so much baloney. Almost every company makes their employees read and sign a memo of understanding on what the rules are regarding corporate computer and network access. If you read the rules, you'd know that because it's their computers and network, they own everything. Whether it's personal or not. Besides, they often include a rule stating that personal use of the resources are not allowed or cannot be abused.

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  • by Spindizy on December 4th, 2006

    Spindizy

    Remember, when you are at work, you are using their computers, and their bandwidth. They have the right to monitor anything you do with their equipment. Everything from a "cache server" which saves pages you visit (even with SSL encryption) to remote viewing of your desktop (they can watch you as you do it) to installing keyloggers (which record all your keystrokes -- passwords and all.)

    You need to review the Network Acceptable Use Policy (NAUP) you probably signed at some point in time. You should be able to get that from Human Resources if you want to take a look.

    If you have not signed any kind of NAUP, then you may have a little more breathing room, but they will still be allowed to monitor you, even if they havent stated what you can and cannot do with their equipment.

    You are being paid to work, not to read your email. If you are using a free email service for work communication, then you really shouldn't have much to worry about -- Unless your mixing business and personal with the same account.

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  • by Mirage V2.0 AWOL on December 3rd, 2006

    Mirage V2.0 AWOL

    If you use company property and time, they are entitled to know what you are doing.

    Nothing in a network should be considered private.

    Monitoring activity is one of the responsiblities of the System Administrator. With the proper software, they can monitor your activities.

    The company policy should be available to you.
    Thus, discretion is always a prudent path.

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  • by jarnold4112 on December 1st, 2006

    jarnold4112

    Your company can only come back on you if the e-mail contains information pertaining to their company. If they are tracking personal e-mail with personal content this is a violation of your privacy and opens the door for you to file a lawsuit.

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  • by Niji-san on December 4th, 2006

    Niji-san

    Actually, the comment about a violation of privacy is not entirely bullshit.

    It depends a little bit on where you live and work (I'm in Europe for example), but the courts have ruled that a fair usage principle should be adhered to. Companies are NOT allowed to scan the contents of your mail and thus violate your privacy as long as you keep it sane.

    They ARE allowed to check where you're sending mail and if they have a reasonable suspicion that you're abusing the mail system and your boss's time, they can legally read the contents.

    So: an occasional mail to the electric company about a faulty bill would be allowed. Using your companies mail system to spam thousands of people wouldn't.

    The idea the courts are supporting here is that you should be allowed some time to take care of important personal things if you can't do that in your own time with reasonable limits.

    I.e. a phonecall of 5 minutes is ok, but spending the entire day on the phone isn't.

    On the technical side, if the know what they're doing, its very hard to stop them or prevent them. Just about the only secure option of true private mailing at work is:

    1) don't
    2) use encryption in the form of an encrypted link with your webmail or encrypt the actual mail content.

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  • by Marquis on December 3rd, 2006

    Marquis

    Which ever service you use, make sure that its SSL encrypted (make sure you got a padlock in your browser).

    Another way would be to create a VPN (Virtual Private Network) tunnel with your home computer.

    Again this depends on your usage policies at work. Have a chat with your IT guys see what they say.

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  • by Psyonic on December 1st, 2006

    Psyonic

    It depends if they know what they are doing! some of that sort of stuff gets caught in the internet cache, plus if they thought you were up to no good then installing a keylogger is pretty easy and will record EVERYTHING you do and say on the computer. For most companies you do not need to worry, average companies don't do that sort of thing normally.

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