How do I know if I am being spied upon?

1

Perhaps, I am being too pessimistic when I ask this question and also I do not know if this question fits appropriately into this forum (if not please redirect to appropriate one).

So here is my question (sort of a problem). I recently began a job at a big company (one of the largest in the country). As a part of the benefits from the company, I was given a laptop (Windows 7), primarily for work purposes (not as a signing bonus), with customized softwares installed. I fear (more than fear, I am quite sure) that whatever personal stuff (other than the work of course!) I do on the machine is being spied. My privileges in the operating system is not the same as the administrator. I have tried to check for nefarious softwares, but I can't find any (probably because of lack of privileges).

I would be glad to learn about the options for me to detect whether I am being spied (in terms of available softwares) and if there is a possibility to avoid it?

P.S. I have followed similar threads here and here, but I guess my case is different.

EDIT 1: Probably my meaning of spying was not too clear in my question. When I say I fear of spying, I mean what I do on a social network or what/where/how do I make my bank transactions. I know that all my requests pass through the proxy, so I know from an administrator point of view what pages were browsed by me. What worries me is the spying on information concerning the things what I do on these networks. This is creepy and by all means it is my personal data.

EDIT 2: Well, Thank you for the answers/comments. Indeed I think this is a complicated issue. I am not familiar with the laws, but accessing private information should be criminal. I just have an analogy to support this. Imagine you stay in an appartment given to you by your company. Does this mean they are entitled to spy your private life to protect their appartment?

PCoder

Posted 2013-02-27T13:13:43.357

Reputation: 161

Question was closed 2013-02-27T21:52:14.973

Ask the network administrators if they "spy" on laptop activity? – Paul – 2013-02-27T13:24:36.330

I assume you are allowed to use this laptop for personal use? I was once issued a laptop filled with company-approved spyware, but apparently they were in their right according to the terms of use I signed when I received it. – Silver Quettier – 2013-02-27T13:24:45.320

3If you don't plan on using it for personal reasons what do you have to fear? Its within the rights of the company to protect everything on their equipment that you work on. There really isn't a fool proof way of verifying something like this. – Ramhound – 2013-02-27T13:43:07.147

Paul: I tried to, but I don't believe on what they answered me. Ramhound: Oh yes, they have all the rights to protect their equipment, but not by looking into my bank accounts. – PCoder – 2013-02-27T14:30:02.243

2You might clarify whether the laptop was "given" as a sort of a signing bonus, or whether it was issued to you for your duties. If it's for your duties, then the company owns it, and NOTHING you do on it can be assumed to be private. In this case, assume they're logging everything, and adjust your behaviour accordingly. Do nothing on it you do not want the company to know. – Jonathan Garber – 2013-02-27T14:56:59.040

1In many jurisdictions, company hardware and infrastructure isn't necessarily fair game to the company itself. The extent to which an employee's privacy must be respected is often a hugely complicated subject. Of course, the safest thing to do is assume spyware is present, but mere ownership does not imply entitlement to spy. – Marcks Thomas – 2013-02-27T16:12:03.987

W/r/t your second edit: If they give you a laptop for work purposes, they are generally allowed to do what they want. It's more like them snooping around your office than around an apartment (or like them snooping around your quarters in the Army or on an oil rig, or somewhere else where you only stay there for work-related reasons). Technically, they could say that you shouldn't be doing personal stuff on it at all; it's their computer, and they are letting you use it just for one reason (work). – cpast – 2013-02-27T17:01:10.187

If you want to avoid them tracking personal stuff, the only way to be sure is to not use their property for your personal gain. As long as they own it, they can do what you want; you need to buy your own laptop to get full control. – cpast – 2013-02-27T17:09:04.240

Answers

4

You should search your company employee guide/manual. Most of them for any larger companies, like the one I work for, state that while using any company owned/issued hardware or email, you can have no expectation of privacy. If they gave you the laptop to be used for work purposes, then that laptop is their equipment, owned by them and controlled by them and anything you do on that machine is fair game to their observation or tracking.

That's how corporations work. I don't know of a single large company or corporation that has any other policy regarding this sort of thing. Their concern is that you will do something that will infect, harm or compromise their network and private data.

BBlake

Posted 2013-02-27T13:13:43.357

Reputation: 5 120

2

If the drive is not encrypted, you could boot it up with a Linux LiveCD and snoop around the HD to see if there is anything that appears suspicious. Other than that, asking is your best bet. You could check with a lawyer in your area to see if the company is allowed to lie in response to a question asking about what they monitor. That still isn't a guarantee that they wouldn't like, but if you document their answer and it is in fact illegal to lie about the answer in your jurisdiction, then you'd have a strong case against them if they took action against you based on your activity.

AJ Henderson

Posted 2013-02-27T13:13:43.357

Reputation: 475

Asked: 2013-02-27T13:13:43.357

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Active: 2013-02-27T16:46:26.547