Ever Worry About Corporate Checking Your Internet Activity?

Not really. I figure if they're looking for a reason to fire you, they'll find one regardless.

Unless you're doing something egregious (using your work computer to run a side business, etc), it's very unlikely that they would go after you. The only circumstances I can imagine someone using your internet traffic to build a case against you is if you file for wrongful termination and they need to prove what a deadbeat you are, but even that is a stretch. People, especially IT, are too busy to monitor the massive logs internet activity generates.

Though you may want to check out "They're Watching You at Work" from the Atlantic. (Would post link but can't yet given my inferior status on the site.)

If you worry, you probably shouldn't do it.

Regardless, if they want to see what I post/read on WSO, so be it. I'm not breaking any rules.

I'll have to quote GS elevator on this one - "If you ever worry what senior management thinks about you, just remember - they aren't thinking about you."

I doubt they care enough to put in the time and effort to pull that information out, and even if, so what? You aren't getting paid by the hour.

CorpFinanceGuy:

Let's face it, there are some slow days / weeks where there isn't a ton of work to do. You sit at your desk mindlessly for upwards of 12 hours pretending that you actually did anything of marginal value over the course of the day.

Might be applicable to quote Kurt Cobain on this one... "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you." Nah, doubtful that they care. Most companies just put up filtering software, leave it at that, and have internet logs stored on their servers "just in case." IT is usually stretched so thin that they barely have time to do the work the company requires. Think about how long it takes to get IT to solve stuff in some companies. That probably isn't because they are perusing through your WSO posts.

Unless your work is suffering or aren't meeting standards (yours and theirs) you really shouldn't worry. All adults.

TOR is overkill and extremely slow. A VPN would solve the issue with small speed desegregation. You can also jump into your home internet service to do what ever you want. If you are really paranoid you can boot some super secure version of linux off of a live DVD or thumb drive that will encrypt all network traffic going out of your computer to then pass through a VPN before it goes out into the main servers. But that might cause other issues with the IT department that are much more likely to get you fired.

IT departments at our shop give some managers the bandwidth usage of their teams. It usually only becomes an issue if someone is watching youtube an unhealthy amount or listening to music streaming services.

I've seen others watch march madness etc. I'm sure if someone wants to take action they can use IT as a source of dirt...I don't do anything personal at work though, only on my cell phone (not company issued).

One piece of information that younger monkeys might not be aware of: never mix your personal and business emails. (ie: send from one to the other).

I had a friend who left to go to a competitor, and they checked his email history. He got a letter in the mail threatening litigation. Why? He sent himself his contact list before he left. It turned out to be an idle threat, but it isn't worth the hassle. Print that shit out.

I was on WSO last week, and saw my boss (director level) walk by, saw my screen and gave me a thumbs up. I guess he's a fan of this forum too.

Are you kidding? I streamed the Masters for 5 hours on Th. & Fri., last week each day on one of my screens. The same as at least 8 of my coworkers & for sure one director.

If Corporate is already watching your activity closely (not filters and automated stuff, a real person closely watching your activity) then it's too late already, they want you out.

Just use the 3G/4G on your phone. Other than it's inability to run online games, my phone does pretty much every non work related thing my computer does.

if you make the company money, you have nothing to worry about. if you don't make the company money, then you probably shouldn't be browsing these websites, you should be looking for ways to help the bottom line or looking for a new job.

Nah not worried, mostly just check news and the occasional YouTube vid. I would use my non-work phone with wifi turned off if I were really concerned

You guys work at banks and have that much free reign on your work computers? Nearly every website that could remotely be deemed entertaining is blocked at my bank (personal email, blogs, fb, some sports sites with too aggressive of commenting capabilities, etc). You immediately know because you receive an alert that the site is blocked, your attempt to visit it has been logged, and you can contact IT if you think this is in error. Fortunately I am able to stream games on ESPN, until they take that away too.

No but my business school does get IT to block my IP's on-campus access to WSO (only) everytime I write sensitive stuff on here. Does anyone know if that's even legal? For a school to creep/restrict my internet activity like that?