How private is Hotmail at work?

I've often heard/read that, as a basic fact of life, nothing is private on a work PC and that any email you view or send can in theory be monitored by your company. There are plenty of cautionary tales about people getting the sack for sending 'intimate' messages to their girlfriend, or whatever, from their work PC in the mistaken belief that it's private.

So anyway: I'm allowed to use the internet for personal purposes at work, as long as do it on my lunch break or after hours. I generally check my Hotmail account during this period. I just opened an email from someone I know and it was extremely, let's say, personal, which freaked me out a little in case, you know, Big Brother is watching.

I just want a little extra-specific clarification about the 'nothing is private' rule. Does it definitely apply to web-based email accounts like Hotmail? If it is true that my company can read these, are they under any obligation to let me know if they do this? (I'm in the UK by the way, so laws may be different from the US). I would welcome any advice about this, or references to articles/info that might help me to understand it all more clearly.

Thanks!

Camilla

 

I can only answer from a technical perspective, but regardless of whether it's web based or client based messenger or email accounts, it can still be and is recorded and stored.

If this email/s was that questionable and enough to cause you some concern, then personally I wouldn't do it at work.

 

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I will certainly be more cautious from now on, but when you say:

, which do you mean: that it can be, or that it definitely is? Also: recorded & stored how?

Best,
Camilla

 

I can't tell you exactly what your company does, it really depends on their IT department or the setup.

If it's a Hotmail email for example, then it's initially on their (Micro$$oft's) server to begin with.

It then goes through your ISP's server and your companies computer.

There are plenty of steps where it is stored.

Basically, anything you see on a computer screen has been downloaded and stored somewhere.

Nothing or no one is immune from this, but that can be alarmist unless you are doing something that warrants it.


This must be one hell of an email, I don't suppose you can P.M me a copy by any chance?

 

Very funny! It is, in fact, one hell of an email. I guess there's nothing I can do about it, though. I was hoping that, at least, there would be some way of knowing whether it was likely to have been actually seen by humans, as opposed to just stored somewhere. Is it generally the case that, in order to read it, someone would have to be really making a point of looking at our private (ie non-work account) emails?

We are a small company and I can't seriously imagine that someone is reading our personal Hotmail messages, which are clearly not related to work, and not making it clear to staff that this monitoring is going on. I wonder if there is any sort of privacy law that applies here?

Thanks

C

 

Hi Camilla

Unfortunately i would imagine that privacy laws dont apply, as you are using the companys computers, and therefore anything which is in / passes through that computer is their property.

I'm in the uk and I email my sons mum in Oz while she's at work where she will open and read them, and i constantly warn her about people monitoring both incoming and outgoing mail.

It is usually in the best interests of companys to monitor where people go on their computers. What they then choose to investigate futher is up to them... but... lets look at it another way... if your a person in charge of this kind of thing, sat monitoring boring stuff all day, and u spy an email come thru with a subject line "what i would do to you with whipped cream and an ice cube".... would you be abole to resist reading it? heheh

Hey.. im a day older than u! Where in Scotland are u?

 

In the US we have "reasonable expectation of privacy".. It can be argued that even though you are using a work pc, you are accessing a system that you have an expectation of privacy when using because it is a personal system that you are logging into. The emails are not stored on company systems rather your system is only being used as a means to and end. It's a grey area for sure though becuase the digital world is just so ambiguous.

 

I agree, and the law really needs to catch up in this area, as it does in a lot of cases with computers.

The law just hasn't kept pace with technology.

 

Indeed. The law needs to try to wrap its' head around the term "virtual". It will not be able to combine current law with it very easily . It may have to take a new direction and create a whole new system soley based on virtual ethics and morality.

 

I digress but one recent example has been the Recording Industry Of America trying to prosecute people downloading mp3's.

Rather than embracing the technology and using it to generate revenue they instead tried to shut servers down such as Napster.

All that did was spawn a lot more programs and sites, and it will continue to until they accept reality and make it available themselves, in a similar way that iTunes is doing with it's very profitable services.

Right, I've climbed down from my soap box now.

 

Didnt Streamcast (Morpheus producer) win some case in the USA about that kinda thing.

I guess at the moment its almost up to your conscience.. if it pings at u... theres probably a reason for it lol. The problem with morals and values are that they are personal to the individual, and therefore non-transferable from one to another.

This goes for DL'd music, or sending risque (????) emails. lol. For a law to be universal on the net we have to wake up to the fact we, as humans, are a species, and work globally, rather than as seperate countries. We cant have privacy with cameras and monitoring watching our every move! Personally i blame Orwel for giving them the idea! lol

*gives Insomniac back the borrowed soap box* lol

 

there are social morals and social ethics; that which the majority of society deem acceptible.

 

A note to Camilla: Dump your temp internet files, (daily! at work, especially if you do web based email)! I caught a guy in our company breaking policy, we used his temp internet files to pull up most of his hotmail emails, printed them out and they were presented to him, by the manager as he was being fired...

An if you think they are investigating you, you could even go so far as to use Eraser or a similar program to delete the files.

 

Assuming the person has admin privileges or the features to be able to do that.

Regardless, "dumping temp files" does little, you can still easily see most of the details if you know what to look for.

 

Yes, but in a small busness environment, (if they even have a dedicated IT guy, which is doubtful), I doubt that they would go much past looking into her temp files, especially with the price on monitoring software for gateways, most small biz's don't even go there.

 

Thanks very much for the advice, Oldman & everyone else. Sorry it has taken me so long to acknowledge your posts. It was interesting to read what others had to say as well.

I'll see if I can dump my temp files ... shouldn't be a problem, I hope. Meanwhile, so far I have not been given any sort of telling off, so, fingers crossed that nobody was really looking over my shoulder at my messages ...

I did have a brief surf around on this issue and it appears that the (UK) Data Protection Act offers some guidelines (though not hard & fast rules) to employers about whether or not it is justified to monitor employees' personal email accounts. It kind of seems that they discourage employers from doing this unless there is really a need, like if they have reason to suspect misconduct or something. This (very very quick) research has reassured me a bit, although I realize that it wouldn't actually do anything to save my blushes if someone HAD read that email!

Anyway - you live and learn ...

Best,

Camilla

 

When one is using computer's that do not belong to them, i.e. the computers they use at work, there is absolutely no, as in zero, expectation of privacy. The equipment is not yours, but the company's. Anything and everything you do on your company's system(s) can be and is subject to monitoring. That is a matter of US law, and has been held up in court. Bottom line if you don't want someone at work reading your personal e-mails. Don't use their equiment for personal purposes. Read your company's computer use policies.

 

use linux

 

geek2008. It does not matter what the operating system is. It can be any flavor of Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Unix, BSD, DOS, Windows, OS/X. The IT departments will have the tools to trace everything you do on the companys, systems. Using Linux does not keep a company from monitoring what you do on their computers. I should know, since IT, specifically, Information Security and Information Assurance are my specialties.

 

It is a good idea to consder all emails as secure as a postcard posted through the mail. Particularly at work, as most of the previous replies have indicated.

Regardless of company policy, emails can be used against you, if they wnato to do so (also as per previous posts). Keep your sensitive emails more private by sending them from your home PC, or write a letter, or use the phone. Remember your phone calls can be traced/monitored as well, if the authorities think they have a reason to do so. Bazza

 

Then you should also know that he has posted "Use Linux" on another dozen or so posts.

In other words, ignore the idiot, the novelty will soon wear off or his brain will hurt.

 

Saw that after I posted the reply.

His fingers will more likely hurt first.

I smart enought to know that I don't know everything. I still am learning, even after nearly 30 years of playing around on computers.

 

yar linux muts bea two complacatd 4 you