Recently two legal secretaries made the front page of every major national newspaper. Why? Because they had engaged in an e-mail war over a sandwich! Somehow the contents of the now infamous e-mails were leaked outside of the company and landed in e-mail in-boxs everywhere. Those who leaked the e-mail may have thought it was all a bit of a laugh to share with their friends. But what happened next was that details of the e-mail made it into national newspapers and caused a flurry of discussion and debate on news shows and chat shows around the country. This incident highlighting that there is no such thing as a private e-mail or private anything when it comes to the workplace. More and more employers are monitoring what is happening in the office so that they can protect their business investments. Read on to find out how you can protect yourself from office big brother: Naked Mail Consider your mail at being naked. Why because most organisations have a common policy of opening all mail that comes into the office. They are legally allowed to do this, as all mail that enters the building is technically the property of that company or organisation. To protect the privacy of your personal mail ensure that is it marked private and confidential but be aware that it still may be opened so better yet have all of you personal non work related mail sent direct to your home. E-mail Voyeurism E-mail voyeurism is alive and well as evidenced in the above-mentioned case. This is because many companies have in-house IT departments and e-mail screening systems. Technically these screening processes are in place to protect organisations from computer virus attacks. However you are not safe from nosy IT gurus and overbearing bosses who may want to read your e-mail just to know what you are getting up to. An e-mail voyeur is looking for some juicy gossip or story to spread around. An overbearing boss is reading your e-mail because they think you are spending too much time on non-work related matters. To protect yourself avoid sending any personal e-mails from your work e-mail address especially anything that is raunchy or professionally compromising. If you must send personal e-mails at least get your own hotmail account for added protection. Phone Calls Use Protection Whist it is illegal for employers to tape your phone calls without your consent it is certainly not unheard of. Many call centers and sales based organisations tape calls and your office could be next. But right now every boss can monitor your calls simply by wandering around the office and listening in to what you say. Protect yourself by being aware of who is sitting near you and what you are saying on the phone. Avoid saying anything that could be negatively interpreted. |
