Datta Girl!
You’ve just been laid off or let go, and of many critical questions racing through your mind, it’s safe to say “What happens to my personal data, photos, files and Internet passwords on my work computer?” is probably not one of them.
If you are among the many folks offered only a few minutes to clean out your desk and be on your way, you will not have a chance to burn your files to a disk and clear your Internet search and password history.
In the wave of a pink slip, you’ve just lost every PDF, baby picture, Outlook contact, music download and resumé draft you’ve ever stored on your work computer.
Mine, Mine, Mine!
I know it sounds unfair, but your employer is in no way obligated to see that these files are returned to you. True, this is your personal data, but since you stored these things on your work computer, they are now the property of your employer.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a person without some sort of personal data on her work computer, from family photos, wedding invitation mock-ups and tax returns to passwords for online checking, credit cards, Kodak picture galleries and personal email accounts.
This is especially true for folks who work at laid-back offices where accessing your iTunes, Gmail and Yahoo! accounts at work is no big deal and certainly is not a breach of any kind of technology policy. Even if you work for a government agency or corporation with a very strict policy, I’m willing to bet you still keep some of your personal stuff on the work computer.
Churn and Burn
Of course, the simple solution is to not store personal data or photos on your work computer. But if you must, I encourage you to back up your files often — even if the threat of layoffs or being fired in no way applies to you. That means regularly burning your files and photos to a disk or dragging them over to a USB drive.
A friend of a friend was recently laid off, and she was given about five minutes to clear out her desk and hand over her company laptop. On that company laptop was every single digital photo of her child since birth.
She begged the IT guy to let her come back and burn a disk of the photos, but unfortunately, her employer’s termination policy wouldn’t let her recover anything from the company computers. She had no backup and lost five years of baby-photo history.
Easy Access
If you are like me, you like to have all of your data at your finger tips no matter where you are. One way to avoid using your employer’s computer and storage resources while still accessing your personal files is to take advantage of Google’s web-based suite of services. From sharing photos to Google Docs, you can create, share and store documents, spreadsheets, presentations and forms all from your Google account and access it anytime you have an Internet connection.
If you have questions or concerns about your company’s tech do’s and don’ts, check in with your IT department; I’m sure they’d love to break it down for ya’.
As tempting as it is to turn to your work computer for personal use, keep in mind who really owns your precious photos and personal info when it’s all said and done. In the meantime, back up early and often!
