With the fast moving world, we are forgetting the difference between personal and professional lives. The lines between the two are blurring gradually. The major reason of this is that we spend a majority of our time in offices, i.e., approx 9 hours every day. That is a lot of time to not indulge in some personal things while sitting at our desks. It becomes all the more difficult to not open your social accounts in office if your work is not that interesting.
We are merging our office and homes. While we surf Facebook in the office, we do take the pending work to finish at our home. We fail to separate the two. People also become good friends with their colleagues and go out for beer and pizza after the office hours together. Many people do socialize with their co-workers. But doing this is just the trouble around to happen. What if we told you that your employer can go through every email you send out and receive. It will make you feel uneasy right. So you should be taking some precautions to protect your privacy while you are at your workplace.
#1. Read Company's Privacy Policy
You should know that many companies have policies which require the employer to do any random check on email and calls that are being done during office hours within office premises. If you are using the company system or connection to do that, they have the right to go keep an eye on it. So do not feel yourself at home sending personal email and making calls. Your office might not restrict you from doing so, but if they keep a tab on you, you cannot object to it then. In exchange for a pay, you give up your privacy when you use company systems for personal use. Make sure you know all policies the company holds against your privacy, so you know how to defend it if and when the time comes.
#2. Separate Devices
If you want to keep your personal details to yourself, then avoid using the company laptop or any other system to access your email. Do not surf through your social media accounts during your work hours in the office. Anything that you want to keep private should not come on the company system. Use your own cell phone to check your messages or wait to get back home to surf through Facebook pages on your personal laptop. Do not mix home and office. Even if you have some urgent work during office hours, try to go to a cyber cafe to access your emails or other things. This will help to keep your details and account private.
#3. Social Media Posts
We love to share about our life on Facebook and Instagram, but do you know that the details you share are prone to be misused. Avoid using the details of your office life on social media. That is at times against the integrity of the company too. Even if it is not, it is always a bad idea to show your emotions on social media. Suppose you hate your boss and you demonstrate your anger on Facebook where some of the colleagues are in your friend list. Although your boss is not a part of your circle, the word can easily reach him through other employees who can see that post. So it is better to maintain your privacy by not posting too much about office life.
#4. Mark Your Personal Files
People at workplaces have a very nagging habit of going through the files of other employees. This happens a lot if you share the lockers to keep your bags and stuff. So, if you carry some personal files or papers to your office, keep them in a folder and put a CONFIDENTIAL mark on it. This will get others to keep their hands off of it. Your personal documents are safer this way from getting in the hands of other.
#5. Do Personal Things Outside Office
We understand that the work home distance is blurring. We do make every effort to make our office space comfortable enough to feel like our bedroom couch. But it is important to remember that it is still official premises. Avoid doing too many personal things during office.
We understand that you were sitting idle and going through shopping lists online is only justifiable but your boss won't. They have a record of all your browsing history, and their systems are at times enabled to save your passwords too. Resist that urge to do personal things during office time to keep your privacy protected.
#6. Do Not Discuss Personal Life
Privacy is not only restricted to technology and machines, but it can also involve the things we tell others about us. This is the most commonly ignored precaution to protect your privacy at a workplace. It is often the things we say, the way we act and our entire attire that can tell people a lot of things than we like them to know about us. Avoid discussing personal details with other employees to keep your personal life private.
#7. Check Tracking Softwares
Check your system in the office and see whether any software is installed that can track your activities on the system. You can turn off the software for some time to do your business. But remember to put it back on, or you will be questioned about it. Make sure to make some excuse to do turn it off as it will come in the notice. The best way is to pretend that you did not know about it. Keep in mind that your movements are still trackable so do not make any illegal attempts using this trick.
#8. Use Virtual Private Network
A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a method used to add security and privacy to private and public networks. VPNs are used by corporations to protect data and by individuals to protect privacy. The privacy is increased because the IP address of the user is replaced with the one given by VPN provider. It takes care of the security threats, and the increasing reliance on the internet can be safe in a work environment keeping your privacy safe.
#9. Make Friends In IT Department
The best way to find out what your employers monitor is to start hanging out with the staff from the IT department. These people are the master mind behind all the security check that is necessary to ensure legally safe working environment. But do not ask directly about it. Just start sitting around in breaks with them, and you will know about these things when they discuss it amongst themselves.
#10. Make Strong Passwords
Keep strong passwords which are difficult to guess easily. Keep a combination of random non-dictionary words, numbers, and symbols. Also, use lower and upper case in the letters. Make the passwords as complicated as you can. Never use the same password for all your accounts as that gives an easy access to all your accounts once the password is cracked. You can use a password manager to help you with all this. It is better than keeping one complicated password that is the same on all accounts. Also, avoid using passwords which relate to you like your date of birth or your pet dog's name. These can be guessed easily as well. A strong password can keep your privacy at work safe.
#11. Put Double Security
You should activate 2 Step verification on most of your accounts that makes password useless unless the user has the One Time Password as well. This makes the security of your account double protected and not solely secured by a password. Be careful of opening any links in emails which you are not sure of. They can lead to your account being hacked. This is a little time consuming but necessary for you if you want to ensure your privacy does not get leaked in the workplace.
#12. Clear Your Desk Before Leaving
Even if you use personal accounts on the company system, you should be careful to never leave the system unlocked whenever you leave your seat. It only takes a few minutes for someone to take a quick peek at your personal details. So, even if it is a short break you are going for, make sure that you do not have any of your emails or personal stuff on the screen. Never click on 'remember password' option on the system. It makes the access of your accounts easier in your absence. Also whenever you leave your desk, log out of all the accounts, so that they need the password in order access them. Also, put a screen lock if possible to make the security tighter. Remember you can never do enough when it comes to protection of your privacy.
Have you faced any breach of privacy at your office? Let us know if you have anything related to this topic that might have happened with you or someone you know.
Also, any comments or suggestions that you have for us, do leave a reply in the comment section. We would love to hear from you.
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