clearing browser history does jack shit – if they have monitoring software, this goes between your local network and the router that will connect your company to the internet and will log everyones PC use.

most decent companies will tell you they are watching out of a sense of fairness and preserving employee morale, although I’d always assume an employers connection is watched.

In some cases large investors and their insurers insist on this as part of “corporate risk management” – not because they are too worried about a young office worker looking at a rave website or facebook on its own, but if they are passing on confidential info about the company.

unless you are the IT manager or a sysadmin or your employers are clear bout their monitoring policy I’d be careful about surfing anything controversial from work these days. if they do have an acceptable use policy they usually also will have a monitoring software and will block anything they don’t agree with. Its their right to do so as they pay for the connection.

I work as an IT manager for a small business which went from 2 computers one on dialup to 10 all on broadband and LAN + (soon) VOIP phones

There are filters on some of the work computers but its really only to stop people going on “free screensaver / ringtone!” website and fucking up the network with spyware/worms/viruses.

Also if people download loads of files etc or cane youtube when the VOIP phones are deployed they might make the phone calls have bad sound quality as we haven’t yet got managed switches (they aren’t cheap!) – OK it could be an extreme case but its the sort of thing what will happen intermittently when I am not on site or able to monitor network traffic remotely :crazy_diz

My advice as an IT manager to the younger staff was to be totally honest, explain what the software does and why we are doing it but also say “just don’t take the piss with the internet and no one is going to get any bother”. I have been known to allow websites through if people find the filters are too harsh and it isn’t affecting the business.

if you are concerned about filters in your workplace, befriend one of the IT staff. They may not be able to override them, but most will at least let you know what level of monitoring is being done. Or speak to your trade union if your employers recognise one.

In addition to internet surfing be careful what you email. A load of folks at my place were emailing dodgy pics and these got clocked. This included senior managers LOL

i dont use the net much as work espesh with who i work for lol i stopped coming on here at work cept the odd mesg here n there

i had a job once n had a middle management position, one day in the lift the managing director told me the correct spelling of ‘soul’ i went quiet n realised that theyd been monitoring my web serches for cardif citys football firm the ‘soul crew’. i’d been spelling it soal as in fish or something :laugh_at: