Computers at Work

Posted by shush

August 7, 2013

Employees with access to computers at work also has access to “free storage” of personal files.

So if you are the type who lets your kids or other family members use your laptop from work, they would be saving some of their files on your work computer. Or you can be the type who enjoys storing your photos on your work computer.

I suppose this could be pretty harmless, especially if you have the intention of transferring your files eventually to a flash disk or SD card.

However, you should consider this.

Most, if not all, computers at work are accessible through a network. That means someone else besides you can access the files you saved on your laptop.

There are two issues here.

Issue #1:
If your work has a policy saying that all files in the hard disk are the automatic property of the business owner, then they could do whatever they want with it. Meaning, they could sell your files, upload them somewhere else, send them to anyone they like, or delete them permanently.

Issue #2:
If your work has no such policy as stated above, there would still be the computer technician or system administrator to be mindful of. Being able to access your files with the use of your laptop or from another computer connected to yours, they could also make a copy of any or all your files then, they could sell your files, upload them somewhere else, send them to anyone they like, or delete them permanently.

What’s worse is this.
That they get copies of the files and edit them and upload or send them somewhere which could cause you embarassment or loss of some sort. For example, a photo of you grabbed from your laptop, edited to look pornographic, then uploaded somewhere without your knowledge. Then when someone suddenly makes a background check of you, they find that pornographic photo of you that you never posed for but have to explain to others for the rest of your life.

Be safe.
Go buy an external storage device like a flash drive or SD card or even a real external hard disk. Store your files there so that no one else can access them except you.

Business, Computers, Keeping Safe

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