Is there any way my boss can discover my mumsnet addiction?

[Northerner]

I've recently benn worrying about this and not quite sure why. Is it possible that my boss can find out what websites I visit, for how long and if I post on forums?

I'm not very clued up on this sort of stuff, and just wondered if I need to curb my addiction before I get my P45!

At the very least, you certainly need to clear out your "temporary internet files" folder! Mine is located at C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files

I'm not computer minded at all but I suspect there is a way that they could find out so be careful........

Not what you wanted to hear I sure....sorry

Soupie - I can find my temporary internet file but it's just full of gobbldy gook. What do I need to do?

If he really wanted to yes - eeccckkkkk!!! Sorry. Scary isn't it!!!

YES!
There is a history facility on the server...I can't now remember how to access it on our server, but any reasonably competent IT manager could check very easily. Our IT people showed me in case I want to find out what people are up to, as I AM the boss! Ooops, back to work!

Hi Northerner

Not sure if your boss can see if you post (and what you post) but if the compnay has cetain software in place he can certainly see what sites you visit and how much activity there is on the internet in general.

S**t!

Think I'd better lay low for a while.

My worst nightmare is being called into his office and being presented with a whole list of mumsnetting activities and posts. I'd just die.

Just so I'm prepared - how will I get out of it?!

Northerner,
On your PC you need to go to history and go through each day right clicking and deeting the web sites shown.

Also, you should go to Tolls at the top of your page, Internet Options, there is a section titled Temporary Files - you need to go into the section titled Settings - View Files.
Highlight the top file and press control & A - this will highlight all of the files, then press delete.

Once this is done your boss has no way of tracking what you have been viewing on the net.

HTH

Jems

Most reasonable company IT policies allow reasonable personal use in your own time, i.e lunchtime, as long as you are getting a rest for your eyes and mouse hand! Wouldn't advise claiming compensation for RSI caused by MN addiction! Our only other proviso is that IT must never be used for purposes which could bring the company into disrepute, or are in conflict of interest with the company....so stay off that Rabbit thread!

Jemma7: does that work for computers on a network, with a back-up?

Your company should have an internet and email policy which it has given to staff, just the same as smoking, grievance, maternity policies are given. You need to find out what it is, but it is generally the case that employers permit a reasonable amount of personal use (assuming not porn, fascist campaigning, hate mail etc!) but differ as to what is "reasonable", and get irate if employees are surfing or emailing when they have got work to do. If you are wasting work time on mumsnet then in most companies it would be a disciplinary offence. If your company has notified employees that it may monitor your email or internet use, then they certainly may monitor, and may discipline you in consequence of what they find. As a general rule, you should never write anything profoundly personal or embarrassing from work because the internet and email are not secure unless you use all types of encryption tools. There is an obvious analogy here with an employee who is sitting at her desk all day on the phone to her mate, or writing personal letters - most people would not be surprised with that being treated as a disciplinary offence. Why don't you just ask your boss what the rules are, and then you will know what the policy is where you work?

Blu - I would imagine that the compnay only back-up in the evening or even once a week so as long as you delete your Temp Internet Files and clear the history after each 'surf' then it won't make any difference if it's backed up.

Remember to delete those pesky Cookies too!

Back to work now....

Thanks everyone - especially Jems.

Jems - I've followed your instructions.

I must find an internet cafe!

Outofpractice - I wasn't given any policies when I started work here, internet/smoking or otherwise!

right Jemma - this is just what I need - I went to tools and deleted all cookies and recently viewed internet sites.
Where's this history bit you speak of on the pc?

Northerner, the good news is that your boss CAN'T find out how long you spend doing your pelvic floor excercises in work time....(Poise thread)

Well, not unless you have a very unusual working relationship....

Blu - ROFL

No Blu - even if a back up is done without internet files or history being deleted it will not show.

Back ups are only used to back up data (i.e databases) and word, excel, powerpoint etc.
You can have a back-up otion on emails but it can never back up internet files.

Thomcat - if you look just above your address bar you should see history between the Favourites and Mail buttons.
If u actually right click on the day i.e today, tuesday, monday etc it will delete everything in that file rather than having to delete each entry manually!

Hope this helps.

Good job i do this in my job and check up on what other people are doing otherwise i'd probably be sacked by now what with mumsnet and shopping!

I work for a huge company and I have to say they have a very strict policy on the internet. They are very PC and anything with sexist, racist, homophobic that you forward or send will get you the sack if you are found out.

My advice on this is to ask your boss for a copy of your companys policy on personal use and if they don't have one, get his approval for using in your own time etc.

Someone I know got the sack from my co. just for having a topless model as a screensaver.

Hope I haven't frightened you too much but as I understand it companies are using this as an excuse to downsize, make redundancies etc... so be warned.

Don't you now have to be warned that you are being investigated though? I thought that you had to be aware of it. My manager would not be allowed to put in a blanket request for my internet and email activity. I would have to be told I was being invetsigated. I also think they are not allowed to read anything you write on an email sent from your own email account (hotmail, aol etc) since this is a breach of your privacy.

From anecdotal evidence in the office, think most people are caught because someone has grassed on them.

If you can't delet via the History button at the top of the screen (some are set-up so you can't)go into Find Files, type in History and do it that way.

Plus, have lots and lots of screen open so you can switch between work stuff and whatever you have on in the background. Lots of people keep the BBC site on in the background, just like having a radio on

Don't mean to put the cat among the pigeons, but I used to work as a senior manager in a company which had a high number of relatively low paid, young staff (= low motivation/ high internet use). The company had a clear internet use policy which was only during 'personal' e.g. lunch time and not for racist/ sexist/ porn etc.It DID specify that people's usage could be monitored.
The senior managers had access to a log (if they wished to check) of all sites visited, by employee, including date and time (but not specific details of postings etc)
To be honest, since the web was linked through a shared server I don't think just deleting your own (local pc) 'history' worked - but I'm not a techie, so am willing to defer to someone who knows this for certain?
Having said all that, the IT director and heads of depts had the most interesting 'visiting records'.... ;}

My husbands an internet security something or other and says that if you work for any decent size company, removing the temporary files isn't good enough.
All the wesites that you visit and for how long will be recorded on the way out to the internet by the IT people.
The only ways to avoid it are just as likely to get you the sack as actually spending so much time surfing the web!

Don't mean to scare you but big brother is watching!

Unfortunately nettie is correct. You'd have to work for a fairly large company (or neurotic) but I work for an investment bank and they definitely would watch whatever site was visited. Often many of the sites where banned and you'd get an onscreen warning. With my company if you could justify visiting the site then it was ok. For instance I would do my Tesco shopping on line and had I been questioned would have merely stated that it meant I could stay at work longer etc etc etc. I would have used a similar excuse for Mumsnet - along the lines of it helps me if I have mummy type issues that need resolving - for instance not running off to the doctors first. Most companys wont worry about sites such as Mumsnet but if you're that worried try to keep your visits short and sharp etc - little and often etc.

Like others have said, seeing the policy is important.

Also don't worry if you go to a site that you didn't think was "naughty" etc. As long as you exit straight away I don't see how you can be told off for the site - apart of course for surfing in general.

Good luck

Not wanting to scare you but where I work we aren't allowed to use the internet for personal use, although it does happen occasionally. But someone did tell me that the IT department of my company know which websites have been visited, when and for how long. Now I don't know if they do a daily check or if this is just info that they have access to should they want to check that sort of thing out. And seeing as there are loads and loads of different departments, with hundreds of people in each department I somehow don't think that they check it every day.
Very Scary though if they did.