AIBU to wetransfer some useful files before I leave my job?

[Hairybaker]

It’s my last day on Friday and there are some pieces of work that I created that I would find useful in future. Im not going to a competitor so won’t be used directly but more as a template /reminder.

Obviously I’m aware that the rules are that you shouldn’t do this.

I don’t want to email them to my personal folder or upload to a usb as that can be tracked. But can a wetransfer be tracked easily!?

Is it the sort of thing you can just photo?

I did this when I left my last job and they went beserk! It was only for interview practice reasons not to sell any secrets.

Luckily for me I was fucking off the next day.

Can you not upload to a draft personal email if you can get your personal emails on your work lappy or would it detect that?

I've done it. I just took out data and kept the templates. I'll be doing it again in future. My template with no GDPR issue, my work in my eyes!

@pleasedonttextmyman

Or you work in a company that is completely unprofessional and messy. No one can tell.

And businesses cannot afford to be so slack, for their own sake, their clients sake and to satisfy strict legal requirements

It's breaks so many laws, contractual agreements, it's just not acceptable

Trust me, I can tell.

There's absolutely no way any of us would ever be sneaking around with hidden zip files like some PPs for any reason, and nobody is tracking every second of my computer use like I've fallen into a big vat of Orwellian soup.

If someone leaving our organisation wanted to use something they'd created as a template for future use, we'd have a chat as a team and we'd find a way to help one another in a way that didn't break any confidential / contractual agreements. Literally no drama.

What's telling is that this is a working reality so unfamiliar to you that you can't even conceive of it – and only goes to further support my feeling of total relief and gratitude about where I work and who with.

penguinwithasuitcase

I said OR to reply to your first smug post.

I also, like many people, experienced as a client or user, so many data breach from small or lax businesses because they were not aware, or just didn't care, of the correct set ups or regulations.

You wouldn't be so relieved and grateful if a company dealing with your personal details was so chilled out.

It's not about unnecessary drama, it's about being professional.

If you work in such an organisation with time to potter around discussing templates etc, good for you, so what? My job is not a social club, I quite like the efficiency and clear set ups. Each to their own.

Just lose the attitude about this is a working reality so unfamiliar to you that you can't even conceive of it. So childish.
I do know. I don't like it, and I would never work into such a place, bad enough when I have to deal with clients like that 🤷

In most large organisations these days there are screening systems for attachments, and if they are going to an external email you might be challenged, and might even be dismissed if the files are seriously confidential and contain client data. My business has done this for staff taking client data, and has made the receiving business aware. If you are working from home though you could take screen shots and then you have a scan of the work?

@pleasedonttextmyman

penguinwithasuitcase

I said OR to reply to your first smug post.

I also, like many people, experienced as a client or user, so many data breach from small or lax businesses because they were not aware, or just didn't care, of the correct set ups or regulations.

You wouldn't be so relieved and grateful if a company dealing with your personal details was so chilled out.

It's not about unnecessary drama, it's about being professional.

If you work in such an organisation with time to potter around discussing templates etc, good for you, so what? My job is not a social club, I quite like the efficiency and clear set ups. Each to their own.

Just lose the attitude about this is a working reality so unfamiliar to you that you can't even conceive of it. So childish.
I do know. I don't like it, and I would never work into such a place, bad enough when I have to deal with clients like that 🤷

You're only further proving my point.

The options for a working life are not 'have every move be tracked by your employer' or 'treat your job at a social club'.

There's a very happy, highly efficient medium that does indeed involve actual team communication –I'm not sure why the idea infuriates you so much.

And OP specifically and clearly said 'no personal data involved'.

So whatever battle you think you're fighting - it's nothing to do with me OR the situation being discussed on the thread.

penguinwithasuitcase

I am obviously not the one infuriated, why do you take my post so personally?

'have every move be tracked by your employer' you are spectacularly missing the point, it's not a little silly power game, it's about necessary regulations.

There's a very happy, highly efficient medium that does indeed involve actual team communication
it has nothing to do with a happy medium in most fields. It doesn't matter how chilled out and friendly your outlet is, legal rules still apply.

You seem very angry and defensive, bit weird.

In reply to the OP, who did say I’m aware that the rules are that you shouldn’t do this. it's pretty obvious that there's a rather large risk that she will be caught out.

Can any techies say if uploading an attachment to a draft email on your personal email account would get captured by the spyware? As the email wouldn't actually be sent anywhere but the draft would save and could be accessed at another time or off another device.

@JorisBohnson2

Can any techies say if uploading an attachment to a draft email on your personal email account would get captured by the spyware? As the email wouldn't actually be sent anywhere but the draft would save and could be accessed at another time or off another device.

It depends entirely on what systems your workplace has in place. Some companies can (and do) quite literally track every keystroke you make and every file you touch, such is the commercial and legal sensitivity of what you’re working on. Usually these workplaces also have IT policies which prohibit you from using your personal accounts on their platforms in the first place.

The place I worked where they 'caught' me sending some reports to my own email address for future interview prep purposes actually fell foul of their own systems... I had access to the database saved on chrome and when I got a new personal laptop a few months later and installed chrome it came up on my saved tabs and I could get in, password was autosaved.

Didn't open any files but I could have read anything in there and sent a pic of the folder to them to let them know - technically a massive ICO breach.

*GDPR breach.

I have had clients sued for this and sent legal letters out for employers on the other hand. Some companies put a special watch on people who have handed in their notice to check what is going on.

You are likely to breach your employment contract, the laws of confidentiality, data protection law and if copying documents or a database breach intellectual property rights in the database or document.

I did this when I left a job a couple of years ago. I had created a load of templates and forms etc. for the company, I wanted them so that I could adapt them for my own/future use....they wouldn't be the same but the basics would be used.

I just brought in a USB stick, copied them onto it. Left everything for the company but had my copies, not really traceable if you aren't going off to a competitor and re-using them.

A former colleague used to use her work email for everything. All personal stuff.

When she resigned they put her on immediate garden leave. No access to emails at all. And nothing was allowed to be sent to her. So she lost all correspondence regarding her house sale and purchase divorce etc. Everything.

Nightmare for her.
I rarely use my work email for personal stuff.

Serious conduct issue. Do not do it. Whilst you think it’s your work, it actually belongs to your company not you. Even after you’ve left could result in disciplinary action that will remain on your record

I just brought in a USB stick, copied them onto it. Left everything for the company but had my copies, not really traceable if you aren't going off to a competitor and re-using them.

As a PP said, in most large corporates you might as well have set off a flare announcing "I'M STEALING FILES" when you plug a memory stick into a work computer, especially if you have recently resigned. It most certainly is traceable. Some companies won't care or won't bother, but it is 100% traceable.

@ememem84

A former colleague used to use her work email for everything. All personal stuff.

When she resigned they put her on immediate garden leave. No access to emails at all. And nothing was allowed to be sent to her. So she lost all correspondence regarding her house sale and purchase divorce etc. Everything.

Nightmare for her.
I rarely use my work email for personal stuff.

That's just kind of funny though to me. It takes minutes to make a personal email account, she couldn't be bothered and it fucked her over. Serves her right, I've never yet been in any company that hasn't said don't use work email for personal things.

Plus why would you even want to? I like to keep work and private life separate. There's no wonder people moan that they have no separation when they merge everything together.

Where I work, all files have a security classification and USBs are scanned for work files every time you use one. I am sure my IT knows everytime a file transfer site is used.

At a previous employer, from the time you put in your papers all your activity is tracked and monitored. I had to put some files on a usb for a manager, and I was actually called in by a senior partner and questioned about it. I had to pull in the manager to back me up.

Depending on your employer, you'd be really risking it.

"Templates and forms" designed by an employee for that employer are the copyright of that employer and cannot be taken and used even if no confidential client information is on them.

Can you remember them and recreate them at home before you forget them,

Otherwise take pictures. Software nowadays leaves such a trail, it's not worth it.

If you have access to your work email from another device (through a web browser or on your phone for example) create a DRAFT email and attach the files. Do not send. From the other device access the draft and download the attachment. Never send the draft. So far as work are concerned nothing has been sent or transferred.

There is only one completely foolproof way to go about this.

It is to go to your manager and say “as you know, I am leaving to join a company which is in no way a competitor of yours. I would be very grateful if I could be granted dispensation to take copies of files X and Y which I wrote and are very useful to my personal working practice. As you will see from the attached copy they have no GDPR sensitive data and I have cleaned the meta-data. Could you please, as a personal favour, get me sign off from IT and HR to take them?”

Twenty years ago in my industry people routinely walked out the door with god knows what on USB sticks. It was naughty but we all did it, and have the password-cracking, metadata stripping and rebadging skills to show for it. But my office has had IT only access for USB sticks for fifteen years or more, they check your outgoing emails and definitely don’t you to log into your personal webmail on work machines.

We would however allow someone to take a file away if they asked nicely and there were no compelling business or GDPR reasons not to.

You certainly need permission. Those saying taking a photo of it is fool proof well (i) it remains unlawful (ii) there may be CCTV showing you doing it (remember Matt Hancock......) and (iii) if the company obtains a court order to search your home and devices (which I have been involved with in the past particularly where an employer wants to make an example of one employee so no one ever does it again - one person I am thinking of was bankrupted by the way and disqualified from acting as a director and lost everything, job, flat etc etc...

So don't think this is just some fun way of leaving work with the files. It could be life changing. Also not everyone does it by any means. I have never left a job with files, paper or otherwise. I have started from square one. Acutally there is also interesting case law on which email contacts you can take . In one case someone used their linkedin profile which work told them to set up (so the court held it to be work's) in part for non work contacts and the judge had to look at all that. He said with that and in another case another judge said with work email accounts you should not use them for work and non work contacts and should set up separate private email addresses for contacts with your family, doctors, dentist etc Generally the employer wins these cases. The Linked In one was interesting as it included contacts from previous jobs which is why the judge had such a difficult time of it.... Actually I just found a useful summary which includes at the end a bit about the LinkedIn case www.goodhr.co.uk/who-owns-the-linkedin-contacts-employer-or-employee/

My predecessor did this. Caused a whole world of trouble for her. Including being let go from her new job

Though in fairness she actually did send herself financial data and well as the templates. Although because of other problems they were happy for her to have the templates.

She had no clue they increased monitoring on email once your notice was handed in around the same time a director did and got caught for the same thing.

When I create something now, I get written permission from the MD to keep a copy before it's used. They are all on a memory stick, with the permissions.

I would say doing this, without permission, after handing your notice in is quite risky.