Do you think that employers read microsoft teams chats?

[Larna4t]

I don't mean group chats , I mean 1-1 chats between employees. My colleague in my last workplace was absolutely convinced of it. She said that her boss would bring up things that she had said in 1-1 chats with colleagues.

Can workplaces access all team chats as it is a work communicatiom, even 1-1 chats?

Whilst it is undoubtedly the case that correspondence on work applications cannot be considered private, the question was can my manager see my 121 chats with my colleagues and the answer to that should be no, not without requesting the information and providing a good justification.

This happened to me and a colleague recently. We no longer talk on teams - if we need to chat when not in the office we do so on WhatsApp. The manager has not admitted to reading them but we know she has.

Oh stop being so snobby
No one has "to get anything through to me".

I have my opinion and i believe that employees should be informed clearly of how they are being tracked and monitored.

Employers have rights to access data, but employees also have rights. One of which is informed consent. We should be told clearly how we will be tracked and momitored before we start the job

Especially as they are tracking us more and more these days

My friend works from home. She covers the camera as she doesnt trust her employer. She thinks that they might be recording her using the camera, whenever they feel like it

That's a matter of internal workplace policy and good IT and data security, not law. Large organisations will have policies and Manager Bloggs will have to apply to someone for access. In a small company, Manager Bloggs might well be able to access it or ask ITBod to have a nose on their behalf.

The answer is they should be able to because you’re using a work owned account. They are liable.

@Larna4t your company should have an IT acceptable use policy. Look for itm

You should assume that all communication is available for review. If you work for a US organisation they are subject to high levels of monitoring. This has been in place since Enron scandal so it's widely known that monitoring happens. An IT person with the level of Admin needs access to all system stores and could delegate your inbox/teams to someone else. It would usually have to be a senior person, not some random but there is nothing in law to stop that.

I can't see any judge being sympathetic to an employee claiming "I didn't know it was being recorded" as ignorance is not a defence in law.

So assume everything you write in any work system is accessible and importantly, backed up so doesn't disappear.

Yes they do. I'm aware of 2 people being sacked over the content of Teams chat. Employers monitor emails, and system chats.

You don’t have any rights over employee accounts and data there in. They are legally liable and own it all. The only right you have is not to use employee devices - which includes employee owned email accounts - to engage in personal communications. It’s quite simple.

BBC nails it. Assume nothing is private.

www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210813-are-your-work-messages-as-private-as-you-think

We have the right to give informed consent

The employer needs to tell us what they are doing to track and monitor us.

One of my employers got us all to sign a consent form. The form we were asked to sign stated that we were aware that cctv was recording us and ws consented to it.

They couldnt record us if we didnt consent

Again, wrong. They don’t need your consent to monitor their accounts. They own them.

Maybe not all live, but they can certainly be read and used like emails or written evidence.

Jesus I wasnt writing about accounts in that post was i. I was writing about CCTV.

And yes my employer DID have to get our consent before they could record us with CCTV. I know because i signed the consent form!

I work with young people. We are also not allowed to take their photos without their consent

Yes. Mine has keywords which flag but no one is randomly checking on an adhoc basis outside of this.

Ah so you’ve just randomly changed the subject matter?

We have the ability to see the chats but in reality, nobody has the time or inclination to actually read them.

Stick to the golden rule - only use work channels for professional chat.

Lol such a rude obnoxious person

No i didnt change the subject matter

We are talking about tracking employees at work
I had expanded to talk about cameras at work, which are another way that employees are tracked.

You asked if they could access teams. The answer is yes. They own the messages.

They also don’t need your consent re the cctv. If you had refused that could have resulted in you losing your job. It was nice of them to notify you though.

That employer did need our consent. He told us that he did.

On mumsnet, threads often evolve from the specific question that is asked in the opening post.

Things get added. Thats what a discussion is.

If you talk to a friend about seeing a scary movie yesterday, do you only talk about that one scary movie?

Or do you talk about other scary movies youve seen, other movies in general toj want to see, what else is on in that cinema, which actors you like etc. No one sticks to one small topic

Just like the IT worker not being allowed to access IT makes it illegal?

Well we can obviously see that the law only means so much

Every company has their own policies too.

So law AND individual company policy, both affect how much our data is being looked at.

Oh crikey.

The law allows you employers to do certain things. Workplaces choosing not to doesn’t mean they aren’t legally permitted to do so. Think annual leave. There is a legal entitlement. Some work places allow you more. The law is still the law regardless of work place policies. And if there was an incident the employer would be bound by the law and have to hand over the data regardless of whether you think your private chats are private.

Just because that employer thought he needed your consent, doesn't mean they actually did need your consent.

There are lots of times when CCTV can be installed without consent. Just like there are lots of occasions when a manager or IT person can look at teams chats without consent. It's literally my job to advise on this stuff.

Thats not what i said. You are not reading what im saying!

At all!

I never said they werent legally permitted to do it. I said they WERE legally permitted to do it

What i DID say, is that how much our data is accessed, is totally dependant on company policy.

Yes they all have the legal right to do it.

Some company IT teams may access emails every mpnth, or access a teams chat if a word is flagged. In another company, the IT person would be sacked if he reads emails.

So back peddling on the informed consent waffle.