webmail

the worry was they could be logged or saved

Logged...not individually if external, but could log what sites you log on to and how often etc etc.

Saved...No, unless the screen was viewed and saved or recorded. Internal mail, yes.
 
Certainly isnt illegal, if theres an IT policy and a HR policy to back it up. It would be illegal for them to access your email account separately, but not for them to monitor an employees web and email usage. HTTPS protects you to a certain extent, but its not a cloak of invisibility.

the web usage, and the webmail usage arent the issue, nor is the use of the companies internal email
it is the webmail content only
 
the web usage, and the webmail usage arent the issue, nor is the use of the companies internal email
it is the webmail content only

If it's external, like hotmail, they can't get physical access without knowing your credentials.

Only way this 'could' be done, is if you download your email through outlook via POP3 or something.
 
if someone uses webmail eg hotmail from work,
can
their work (IT) see their mail
and if so
is it lawful to do so

Im a computer scientist specialising in networking.

I will tell you now, its completely different depending on the system they use.

Most is encrypted whereas in some cases it is not. Some systems can now even see your passwords and thats a fact. I know one company in the UK using such a system for security and to make sure protected data doesn't get leaked. Its a very complex system.

They can watch your screen remotely in almost all cases.

The fact is, even if they can see it, who cares? If they use that information for anything bad then you could sue them left, right and centre because they're not supposed to be looking at your private stuff.

Even on systems where network admins can see they tend usually to just not look purely because it serves them better not to and its a more professional way to act.

The only time I think they ever look is if the police get involved and ask them too. Other than that, they rarely get involved, unless they noticed something like 'ill send you xyz torrent' and so forth which has happened to a few of my friends on campus networks over the last couple of years.
 
If it's external, like hotmail, they can't get physical access without knowing your credentials.

Only way this 'could' be done, is if you download your email through outlook via POP3 or something.

Cobblers. If its email thats accessed over a website from a company machine or company network, then that content along with everything else on that webpage is suseptible to monitoring techniques. The technical methods all exist and are available.

The question here should be, what does the employment contract and HR policy say. Without those no company can use any information they happen to know about you against you.

Industrial tribunals are expensive, so a business would need a damn good reason to go snooping like this.
 
Cobblers. If its email thats accessed over a website from a company machine or company network, then that content along with everything else on that webpage is suseptible to monitoring techniques. The technical methods all exist and are available.

Hardly, a bog standard IT Admin / Techy won't be able to get those emails if they are hosted externally.
 
Get into? No. That would also be illegal under the Computer Misuse Act.

Watch whats already been seen from a work PC? Entirely depends on whats on the PC and network etc.
 
Get into? No. That would also be illegal under the Computer Misuse Act.

Watch whats already been seen from a work PC? Entirely depends on whats on the PC and network etc.

Well yes. That's the first thing I stated about 10 posts back :p
 
Ok.. why were we arguing about anything? I've thrown a £1 in your movember stash as penance for derailing the thread... which incidentally is https protected...

:)
 
thanks for all the help
i accept the screen could be viewed remotely, but i think its a red herring in this case
again cheers for the input
 
Any data the computer recieves can be recorded, vnc, keylogging, webpage logging or whatever can be done to obtain the contents of the emails without accessing the webmail account itself.
 
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SSL proxies . application firewalls can be used to do this and you wouldn't even know the difference. As stated, normally this is reserved for companies that don't want the wrong information to go into the wrong place. PCI for example is big business, if you are a tier 1 card handler (i.e. you take a lot of payments by Credit or Debit card) you have to evidence and have mechanisms in place to protect the card and personal information. Normally internal mail will be scanned for particular strings like a card number or variations of the same and be flagged for review, blocker or have the info stripped. Webmail is a different ballgame as the company won't always control the far end server. Take gmail for example, a lot of service providers use them to host their customer webmail platforms now, so will provide staff access to these platforms to help diagnose issues and walk through issues etc. So you need to account for information leaving the organisation that way - hence SSL filters that will sit inline and monitor for credit card information.
Implemented correctly, it's not sinister, a bit big brother maybe, but it isn't there to prey on the honest people and a large organisation has a lot to loose if card details are compromised. For PCI (in this example) We're talking about the ability to have card handling ability removed, big fines or not having card transactions underwritten.
 
IT Techs can see everything, all they have to do is remote on to your PC and they can see everything, IT also would have key loggers too so they can see what your type in for your email passwords or Facebook passwords if you use them at work then just use them at home or something, your never SAFE...
 
They can see if you use hotmail ie web logs of accessing hotmail.com. But they can't see the contents of mail. Unless they keylog you I suppose

:-( That's exactly what the network administrator did to my works computer in my old IT job. He suspected me, so instead of manning up and telling me, he installed 'Remote Desktop Spy' and saw me writing to my mum. When I got sent to the MD's office however, I gave my motive and it backfired on him and my boss.

P.S. Most people can just use their phones nowadays as most contracts have 500MB or 750MB of data per month.
 
IT Techs can see everything, all they have to do is remote on to your PC and they can see everything, IT also would have key loggers too so they can see what your type in for your email passwords or Facebook passwords if you use them at work then just use them at home or something, your never SAFE...

paranoia 101.

the majority of IT depts wont be running keyloggers.
 
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