5 ms·

This is why I tell everyone I ever work with: "Don't have any personal document on your work laptop that isn't backed somewhere personal" You never know when t

This is why I tell everyone I ever work with: "Don't have any personal document on your work laptop that isn't backed somewhere personal" You never know when that bank statement, or rent agreement or whatever will suddenly become inaccessible. Edit: I know we're not supposed to mix personal data with work. But who hasn't downloaded some docs because you need them filled or printed or something.

GloriousKoji 4y ago
I don't mix personal data and work but they sure can present enough gray areas. Things like digital copies of paystubs, ESPP details, and W4 can only be accessed while employed and on the company network. I leaned that one the hard way a year later when doing taxes.
- Raed667 4y ago
  The scary wake-up call for me when I heard the story of someone who informed their manager of their 2-week notice. And instead of having 2 weeks to sort everything out, they got locked out immediately.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    I began disentangling things from my previous employer about a year before I actually left. 2 weeks notice would basically be a formality, I'd have effectively quit months before anyway.
  - throwdingding 4y ago
    Our business has to do this for security reasons upon learning an employee is no longer going to have an ongoing relationship. However, we explain this to the employee ahead of time, and the two weeks are still paid - the employee just doesn't get to touch sensitive information anymore.
kadoban 4y ago
Anything you do on work hardware, it the US is pretty much free range for them to snoop into as much as they want. Putting that kind of stuff on your work laptop is just unthinkably weird to me. Why would anyone do that?
- kelnos 4y ago
  Because most people don't actually care all that much about privacy, at least when the consequences aren't immediately obvious. Sure, if you flat-out ask someone if they'd be comfortable posting their bank statements on Facebook, they'd say no, of course not. But even if people know that their employer can snoop on the contents of their work laptop (I imagine some people don't realize), it's a hypothetical threat. And often people have some sort of implicit trust in their employer, anyway, for some strange reason. In my experience, most people put personal things on their work laptop, and don't think twice about it. Unfortunately you're actually the "weird" one, even though I totally agree with you.
  - jenscow 4y ago
    And it's not just "employer" you need to trust - it's the people in the IT department who can snoop.
- Raed667 4y ago
  I guess my rule of thumb is "Am I ok with HR seeing this?", this is more about access (tax papers, paystubs, bank statements, ...) than privacy.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    For many people, HR have access to this already — they know how much I'm paid and where I live, my next of kin, etc.
- francisofascii 4y ago
  > Why would anyone do that? Because of convenience. It is an easy mistake to make. If you have to print something like a rent agreement, do you use your office printer or go through the hassle of sending it to FedEx to print? Also, when you have home office setups configured for your work, it can be a pain to switch everything to your personal laptop, if you even have one.
civopsec 4y ago
I wiped the computer they gave me and installed my own OS. If I quit or they fire me there is a three month period where I have to work for them anyway. It would be ideal to have two computers, but I don’t feel like committing to such an expense (it would have to be about equally powerful) in this economy and all that.
- Raed667 4y ago
  How are you even allowed to access anything related to work without some sort of device-management installed?
  - civopsec 4y ago
    Am I supposed to answer that?
- Symbiote 4y ago
  The BIOS (or equivalent) will be locked on these corporate laptops. You can't install your own OS.
  - civopsec 4y ago
    Makes sense. Good for me. Would in any case be kind of obvious that the employee thad violated the company policy when their desktop doesn’t look like the Mac or Windows one.
- 1983054105 4y ago
  In France, I have the same 3 months period where I still have to work. If they decide to lock my computer during this period, I'm free to stop working and tell them to provide me with a new computer ASAP since I cannot do anything at all. Unless they want to fire you and then they still could remove those 3 months and give you some money instead. It would be stupid of them to give me a free salary for 3 months: either they fire me properly, or they give me a computer.

GloriousKoji 4y ago

I don't mix personal data and work but they sure can present enough gray areas. Things like digital copies of paystubs, ESPP details, and W4 can only be accessed while employed and on the company network. I leaned that one the hard way a year later when doing taxes.

Raed667 4y ago
The scary wake-up call for me when I heard the story of someone who informed their manager of their 2-week notice. And instead of having 2 weeks to sort everything out, they got locked out immediately.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  I began disentangling things from my previous employer about a year before I actually left. 2 weeks notice would basically be a formality, I'd have effectively quit months before anyway.
- throwdingding 4y ago
  Our business has to do this for security reasons upon learning an employee is no longer going to have an ongoing relationship. However, we explain this to the employee ahead of time, and the two weeks are still paid - the employee just doesn't get to touch sensitive information anymore.

kadoban 4y ago

Anything you do on work hardware, it the US is pretty much free range for them to snoop into as much as they want. Putting that kind of stuff on your work laptop is just unthinkably weird to me. Why would anyone do that?

kelnos 4y ago
Because most people don't actually care all that much about privacy, at least when the consequences aren't immediately obvious. Sure, if you flat-out ask someone if they'd be comfortable posting their bank statements on Facebook, they'd say no, of course not. But even if people know that their employer can snoop on the contents of their work laptop (I imagine some people don't realize), it's a hypothetical threat. And often people have some sort of implicit trust in their employer, anyway, for some strange reason. In my experience, most people put personal things on their work laptop, and don't think twice about it. Unfortunately you're actually the "weird" one, even though I totally agree with you.
- jenscow 4y ago
  And it's not just "employer" you need to trust - it's the people in the IT department who can snoop.
Raed667 4y ago
I guess my rule of thumb is "Am I ok with HR seeing this?", this is more about access (tax papers, paystubs, bank statements, ...) than privacy.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  For many people, HR have access to this already — they know how much I'm paid and where I live, my next of kin, etc.
francisofascii 4y ago
> Why would anyone do that? Because of convenience. It is an easy mistake to make. If you have to print something like a rent agreement, do you use your office printer or go through the hassle of sending it to FedEx to print? Also, when you have home office setups configured for your work, it can be a pain to switch everything to your personal laptop, if you even have one.

civopsec 4y ago

I wiped the computer they gave me and installed my own OS. If I quit or they fire me there is a three month period where I have to work for them anyway. It would be ideal to have two computers, but I don’t feel like committing to such an expense (it would have to be about equally powerful) in this economy and all that.

Raed667 4y ago
How are you even allowed to access anything related to work without some sort of device-management installed?
- civopsec 4y ago
  Am I supposed to answer that?
Symbiote 4y ago
The BIOS (or equivalent) will be locked on these corporate laptops. You can't install your own OS.
- civopsec 4y ago
  Makes sense. Good for me. Would in any case be kind of obvious that the employee thad violated the company policy when their desktop doesn’t look like the Mac or Windows one.
1983054105 4y ago
In France, I have the same 3 months period where I still have to work. If they decide to lock my computer during this period, I'm free to stop working and tell them to provide me with a new computer ASAP since I cannot do anything at all. Unless they want to fire you and then they still could remove those 3 months and give you some money instead. It would be stupid of them to give me a free salary for 3 months: either they fire me properly, or they give me a computer.