How to stop employer spying

My employer is cracking down on internet use at our workplace. If an employee goes on the net at his workstation an "agent" is dispatched and appears there within five minutes.
A perm letter is then placed on employees file. I do not abuse the internet but it is important to me to be able to check my e-mail from work.
So my question is:
Is there anyway I can cloak my PC or perhaps block the spying. Others have tried deleting the culprit program files (Zen tools I think) but that brings the agents faster than surfing.

Paranoid

 

No there is no way to cloak your workstation from employer spying, due to it is THEIR machine, not yours. I would do their work that they are paying you to do, and do your surfing at the privacy of your home.

If you have a laptop, use it on your lunch hour to check email, or even your cellphone if you have WAP access on it.

 

i wouldnt go as far as saying that its impossible.. because it is not. but i dont thing its worth the trouble..l.. why would they not let u check your email?

 

FYI
I do my/thier work and more. I don't own a laptop or a cellphone which BTW are not allowed in my work area. I'm not allowed personal calls at work and when someone calls me (my wife for example) she is blocked at the switchboard with the promis that I will receive the message. I never do receive the message.
Therefore the only method of communication I have is through e-mail or a trip to the phone booth on my break. With a disabled child at home and the occasional emergency that is just not good enough. I like to check my e-mail once an hour at work. I'm sure you realize this can be done in seconds.
I don't need you yelling at me and telling me it is THIER machine. Give me a break.
If you check my original post you will see that I said
"I do not abuse the internet but it is important to me to be able to check my e-mail from work." If that constitutes surfing in your world then so be it.
If the reply after yours is correct you are wrong in your statement that it can not be done.
Please do not take this out on your employees tommorow. I suggest you cut your good employees some slack. Maybe treat them with some common courtesy and watch thier production increase.

paranoid

 

@paranoid have you discussed your situation with the management and explained why you need to be able to communicate via email with your family.

To do what you are suggesting to a computer that is not yours would be criminal, and you place your job in jeopardy by such activity.

 

The simple answer is yes I have. Unfortunately there is a zero and I mean zero tolorance rule. The problem is that certain individuals did abuse the PCs and internet access and spoiled it for the rest of us. I guess that is a common thing today.
Our management has a rule with iron fist mentality which is why I gave an aggressive reply to brownizs. His response reminded me of the response i got from my employer when I did ask. The fact that it is thier machine was pointed out to me when i asked management.
So I am being forced into a position where I either
1) find a safe way to check my e-mail
2) check it anyway and accept letters on my file until I am terminated
3) find another job and quit.

As for #3
I have started looking for other employment but I have to admit that my job is pretty good (from a monetary view only) and not easily replaced.

So unless I accomplish #1, I continue with #2 and hope I can pull off #3 before the inevitable.

 

I'd like to suggest, humbly, that you've not thought this through.

Here's a simple suggestion:

Given, as you state in the quote above, that the money is decent.
Given, that you want to check email on a regular basis. I'm assuming that such email is written by someone who is caring for your child daily?

Here's a simple, low-cost solution that will not infringe upon any of your employer's policies: Buy a digital, numeric only pager and local service in your area. Such should be quite inexpensive now - the last time I priced such a service, it was in the $10 - $20/month range, depending on coverage.

You state that you want to be able to check your email once an hour... I'm assuming that the messages to you are being created by the person caring for your child. You could simply have that person page you once an hour, with a simple numeric code of your own creation: 111 for "Everything's OK", 222 for "Call me on your next break"... etc. After all, they are already going to the effort of creating email - it should be a simple changeover.

Best of all, you'd not have to wonder if an emergency came up and the switchboard didn't contact you, as you could be paged immediately.

Yes, it would require a small additional expenditure per month. However, I'd think that it'd be worth the peace of mind. You'd no longer be at the mercy of your employer's policies, you see.

Given the fact that you state that you have "the occassional emergency", I'm surprised that you've not been more proactive before this. For myself, if I had a special needs child, I'd have invested in a pager for myself long since, so that I could be contacted directly, immediately, should the need arise.

Regards,

dj

 

It's their computers, and YOU are working for THEM, if they want this in place it's none of your business. When you start signing the cheques, you can tell THEM what you will and won't do.

QJ

 

It seems to me that some replies here are completely out of line. IMHO using the computer at work to check personal email, is not a crime, if an employer says that, it's because his employees are the same as furniture to him, and therefore, get out of there. Money isn't everything, and working for someone that treats you like this is degrading and humilliating. My advice to paranoid, if he is prepared to spend some money, is to buy a mobile phone with wap access and configure it to read email, in Europe you can use the QTEK together with a VODAFONE account and you can read your emails wherever you are.

just my two cents

 

"laptop or a cellphone which BTW are not allowed in my work area" i presume this includes pagers, if not then uve got a sollution?
what exactly is your job? do u work in some kind of underground secret missile silo?

 

In the companies that I have worked for, using company property for personal use has always been against company policy. It may not be a crime, but it will get you fired. Some companies are more strict than others, but it's their property and their policy.

 

you're right in almost all companies (there's always the exception to the rule).

of course it's their property, no doubts there.

Is it necessary to be so strict??? How does that benefit employee moral/performance/creativity/satisfaction in the company?? Isn't dedication derived from the satisfaction of not only doing the job you are performing but also the treatment u get at work? Is money the only thing that matters???

Of course everything has limits and wasting time surfing instead of working is inproper conduct. BUT limits go both ways in my opinion, neither the employee should abuse the employer's equipment, whatever it is, but come on, we are not slaves in ancient Rome... We do have rights! If people are just numbers in a worksheet for stock owners to analyse then it's a pretty shitty job.

This post merely reflects my opinion regarding a topic that is becoming deviated from it's original purpose. These last posts only indicate that I do not agree with the opinions of some of the folks that posted to this topic and vice-versa.

I think paranoid has options that can help him retrieve the information that he needs without using company equipment, and that, I think, is the main goal here. In my opinion, checking email while at work is not even an issue I care. I believe in freedom and responsability, and so he should have that chance without som much fuss about it.

just my two cents.

 

Why do you have net access if they don't want you to use it?
Maybe they are only watching port 80 & http requests?
Try using portable thunderbird (on a usb key if you can) and see if the catch mail traffic..maybe?

 

djlowe
Sorry. Been at work all day and unable to have contact with the outside world.
My reason for not being proactive before this is because this is a new policy of the companys due to some individuals (at least 2 have already been fired) abusing the access.
Your suggestion has been considered and accepted as a fine idea.
I'm not sure why I never thought of that. Pretty hard for them to prevent a pager and I can act on any emergency when paged.

Olley
Yes I now have a solution. Personally I do not care if they allow them or not. I'm getting one. They will have to search me every day to prevent it.

jamespond
Your comments re loyalty, dedication, morale etc are right on the money and whether the company knows it or not thier new iron fisted policy on this and other issues will cost them in the end. Very few happy people in my workplace and therefore very few people putting in 100%

QwertyJuan
I hope you were joking and if you weren't you should read my response to jamespond. This may answer the question as to why your employees (if any) won't put in an extra ounce of effort for you.

Finally i'd like to thank all for the thoughtfull and not so thoughtfull responses. I have a solution as outlined above and will implement it.
I'll report back in the future and let you know how it worked out.

BTW and FYI
I do not work in a missle silo or any high security area. I am required to access the internet for portions of my job. The management views your pages and acts if they see something non work related internet or otherwise.
To many this seems outrageous but I'd like to suggest that it is quite common and more so every day. The goal is to make North America like the 3rd world. Huge corporate profits at the expense of the worker.
Just look at corporate profits. Then look at employee wages and standard of living. Why is one increasing while the other is decreasing?
Why do companies outsource work offshore?
The answer is simple. They can pay the 3rd world worker peanuts while it is more difficult to get away with it outside the third world.
I am really worried todays young kids. By the time they are in the workforce it will be bleak if things continue on this way.
I wish I could say unions are the answer but IMO the unions have thier own set of problems.

 

I agree, mister paranoid. They give you internet access and then tell you not to check your personal email? Why not just dangle a steak in front of you and tell you not to eat it? Employers treat their employees like shit and then expect them to give one hundred percent "for the company." It is shameless. What's next? Internet-access-sniffing dogs in the workplace? If it was possible, they'd do it.

 

It is the right of the employer to deem what is appropriate or allowed for the employee to do during his/her time there. Whether it seems right or not to you, is irrelevant. You are being paid for a job, and not to do your personal errands. You do not own the machine, or anything on it.

Now I have little doubt you will come back with an aggressive response to this, simply because my view clashes with yours. It still doesn't change anything. By accepting employment at this place, you agree to your rules. If not, then you can find another job. Its that simple.

This is no different than breaking traffic laws, because it doesn't suit you, or you don't agree with them. There are specific consequences to breaking the rules.

 

Well Said. I've been watching this Thread a while.
And to the original question... there maybe ways around it however your chance are getting caught are pretty high. Considering the atmosphere at your place of employment, it will most likely get you fired... and without a favorable reference.

 

Yah of course, I hear ya. Legally, the employer is in the right. Anything 'paranoid' tries to do to circumvent their setup is against the law. But employers should consider employee morale. Bill Gates' employees will never complain about anything, while i highly doubt that 'paranoid' would even tell his boss if the place was burning down. He gets no respect, so why should he feel the need to give any in return?

It's sad, that's all.

 

It is the companie's equipment and technology, and they say what is acceptable and not. You do not have the right to access the internet for personal use just because it is available. The internet is provided to you for business perposes, otherwise the company would not have internet at all. It is not a "benefit" provided to you. Do you spend an hour or two a day making personal telephone calls at work? The telephone is also something to company provides so you can do your job, not a benefit. Sounds to me like serveral things have been taken advantage of (cell phones, internets, etc), and the company has taken the steps to curb it. The company hired you to work for them.

I am a network administrator for a rather large company, and no, I am NOT a company man. I go to work and do my job. I explained in the beginning that I would need to have access to the internet and cell phone, as I also do some webhosting on the side. I agreed that I would be available in my off hours for computer support at the company in return for this privledge. I get access while at work, while they get access to me in case needed after work. Both sides win. As the systems admin, I was able to see the log files of the sites visited at work. While I did not prevent access to the internet for employees, I could see what the most visited sites were, etc. Our employees are required to use the net often for their work, so those sites SHOULD be visited often, yet none of those sites were ever in the top 10. Most of the time they were somwhere in the 20's. What were the most visited???? Hotmail, Yahoo, CNN, dating sites. Again, I am not a company man, but I thought that was ridiculous.

My suggestions...

Do not attempt to get around their systems. You will eventually be caught, and it will not turn out pretty.

Try the pager idea, that seams not intrusive enough. I would talk to your management and explain to them the situation. They may agree that the pager is the best option as it allows you the best communication with the least distraction.

I would also bring up to management the poor phone communications, as this could be a potential problem with emergencies, etc.