Re:Private messages at work can be read by EU employers
by brazzledazzle on Wednesday January 13, 2016 @10:17AM
(#10894876)
It's possible the usernames were similar but the profile and log directories have a very clear separation between accounts that any IT person would be able to see. This sounds more like a justification after the fact.
Re:Private messages at work can be read by EU employers
by debacle on Wednesday January 13, 2016 @10:43AM
(#10895073)
If the file is on your work PC it belongs to your employer. It's a sticky situation but that's how it is.
Re:Private messages at work can be read by EU employers
by Nadya on Wednesday January 13, 2016 @12:46PM
(#10896040)
Which is why I use an external thumb drive with portable software and save any personal files to the thumb drive. It may hit their network but nothing is stored on their computers. Which gives plausible deniability - and I do not think they can legally search the thumb drive.
Not that I'm paranoid about my current employer (extremely relaxed culture) but it is something I do out of habit.
Because it believed it was accessing a work account, the judges said, the firm had not erred.
The man, named Bogdan Barbulescu, ...argued that his right to a private life had been breached when his employer had read a log of messages on a Yahoo Messenger account he had set up for work, as well as that from a second personal one.
Mr Barbulescu's employer had banned its staff from sending personal messages at work.
To check his account, the judges said, it had been necessary for his employer to access his records."
It sounds like a stupid policy, but all the company did was access a Yahoo account that he had set up as a work account and saw that he had also been using it for personal communications.