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toxic515 · 05-27-2009, 05:30 PM

Had one returned to our office at work with a broken screen and claims that it had been " running slowly" My employee had set it aside to work on at a later date, and when she got started on it, after replacing the screen she brought it to me. She set it on the desk and said " Look at the folder on the desktop named 'our eyes only'. Fearing the worst, as we'd gotten one in a few months before with illegal images on it, and been forced to report it, I asked my PC tech "Is it illegal?". Her response was 'No, but I think you need to be aware."

I can only assume that the pictures and videos were of the woman to whom the laptop had been assigned. She happened to be one of our more successful salespeople, though I'd never spoken to her or met her in person. ( About half the country away from our office.)

The first pictures were.. Erotic, but not nude, and she was very attractive. I called my employee again, and asked " Okay, did you see pictures of her in what is either a bikini, or it may have been underwear and bra?" ( hard to tell with the pics, and not any more revealing than a fairly modest bikini... not one of the wicked weasel type of suits).

"Yes. But there are a couple of other folders, and I didn't want to look. I don't want to have to deal with HR and making the call, so I brought it to you."

I thanked her, somewhat sarcastically, but honestly, as that's okay, and as a manager it's my job. I debated deleting the entire folder right then and there, but the saleswoman had requested that we try to save any data that was salvagable. So I called her.

"Hey, this is ***** the IT support manager. One of the techs brought me your laptop to attempt to save some data. The drive is definitely wonky (that's a technical term there.. but I'm pretty non technical) but I can probably get some items from it. What folders specifically do you need, or do you know where the data is stored?"

Her reply surprised me in one sense, but not in another, when she said "Ah, I'm not sure where things are going to be stored, really. Can you just take a look at the files in the folders and see what looks like pictures or spreadsheets?"

" Um, I can. Anything in there confidential?" (Pics would be a normal part of what she'd need, so I cannot in any way assume that she was suggesting that I look at the more personal ones)

" Not really. Just see what you can find if you have the time, please. I've got a lot of work in there that I'd hate to have to replace."

So now what? I grabbed an external hard drive from the gang, and a thumb drive. I moved everything that I could from every folder on there, except the obviously personal one, which I transferred to the thumb drive. I then called her back. " I think I've actually got most of your data intact. "

"Oh, Awesome"

"There was a folder on there that on entering I opened a couple of pics and it was clearly very personal..."

" Really? (long pause) OOOOOOOOOhhhh..... Oh..."

" look, I've already wiped the drive completely, and I don't intend to contact HR. My question is, do you need these too? I can mail the thumb drive, but I want to ensure that you open your own packages at the office."

" Oh. *embarassed* No. "

"Alright" I said, " I'll clear this off then."

She replied: "oh, whatever."

"I'll have ***** ship you the external drive, and we can bill your department, or you can send it back to us when you've copied your things then."

"Okay, great, have fun!" She hung up.

"Have fun?? Whatever??... HMMMMMM"

I had her drive shipped back, and then I thought about it for a rather long time. I decided that while it was possible I misinterpreted, I was going to look anyway. I got up and closed my door, so no one else could walk in and see it, in case it was REaLLY revealing, and I looked.

I got past the first few 'provocative poses' where she had purple hair and was playing Rock Star or Guitar Hero or something, and as I scanned deeper, they got rather explicit. The video clips she had on there were nothing short of really good amateur hardcore. I watched each of them, some of them twice. No, I didn't sit in my office and wank, though frankly, I could have. On completion I wrote her an email that said, near as I can remember," Your data has been shipped using ########### Tracking number. You should receive it tomorrow. In the future, please bear in mind that all data on company owned computers is considered company property, and your manager is permitted to examine that data at any time it is deemed necessary. Additionally, on return to IT, it is possible that it could be seen as well. Installing personal software is prohibited, as is storage of personal data. On a personal note, please be careful what you put on there. I recommend an external hard drive like **link to suggested part* or a thumb drive if you have personal data to take with you. Alternatively you may also consider an iPod.
Thank you."

Her reply to me was: " No. Thank YOU. I understand."

I deleted the videos then, reformatted the thumb drive, and returned it to my crew. My tech asked me the next day if ****** was in trouble, and I said, " No, all I saw was either a bikini or a kind of lingerie picture, and I deleted the rest. were you offended, as yesterday you did not appear to be..?"

"nope, I was just curious if she'd put anything juicy on there."

"not that I saw. If it was there, it's long gone now"

That was the last I heard of it. Never felt particularly bad about looking at the pictures, but I have questioned the ethics of it once in a while since. I still kinda think she was trying to get me to look at them and get a reaction.

If I hadn't thought that at all, I would simply have deleted them after seeing the first two or three, and only those because it was brought to me and I felt it wise to try to ensure that there was no legal or HR issue.

05-27-2009, 05:30 PM	#26 (permalink)
toxic515 Addict Location: Texas	Had one returned to our office at work with a broken screen and claims that it had been " running slowly" My employee had set it aside to work on at a later date, and when she got started on it, after replacing the screen she brought it to me. She set it on the desk and said " Look at the folder on the desktop named 'our eyes only'. Fearing the worst, as we'd gotten one in a few months before with illegal images on it, and been forced to report it, I asked my PC tech "Is it illegal?". Her response was 'No, but I think you need to be aware." I can only assume that the pictures and videos were of the woman to whom the laptop had been assigned. She happened to be one of our more successful salespeople, though I'd never spoken to her or met her in person. ( About half the country away from our office.) The first pictures were.. Erotic, but not nude, and she was very attractive. I called my employee again, and asked " Okay, did you see pictures of her in what is either a bikini, or it may have been underwear and bra?" ( hard to tell with the pics, and not any more revealing than a fairly modest bikini... not one of the wicked weasel type of suits). "Yes. But there are a couple of other folders, and I didn't want to look. I don't want to have to deal with HR and making the call, so I brought it to you." I thanked her, somewhat sarcastically, but honestly, as that's okay, and as a manager it's my job. I debated deleting the entire folder right then and there, but the saleswoman had requested that we try to save any data that was salvagable. So I called her. "Hey, this is ***** the IT support manager. One of the techs brought me your laptop to attempt to save some data. The drive is definitely wonky (that's a technical term there.. but I'm pretty non technical) but I can probably get some items from it. What folders specifically do you need, or do you know where the data is stored?" Her reply surprised me in one sense, but not in another, when she said "Ah, I'm not sure where things are going to be stored, really. Can you just take a look at the files in the folders and see what looks like pictures or spreadsheets?" " Um, I can. Anything in there confidential?" (Pics would be a normal part of what she'd need, so I cannot in any way assume that she was suggesting that I look at the more personal ones) " Not really. Just see what you can find if you have the time, please. I've got a lot of work in there that I'd hate to have to replace." So now what? I grabbed an external hard drive from the gang, and a thumb drive. I moved everything that I could from every folder on there, except the obviously personal one, which I transferred to the thumb drive. I then called her back. " I think I've actually got most of your data intact. " "Oh, Awesome" "There was a folder on there that on entering I opened a couple of pics and it was clearly very personal..." " Really? (long pause) OOOOOOOOOhhhh..... Oh..." " look, I've already wiped the drive completely, and I don't intend to contact HR. My question is, do you need these too? I can mail the thumb drive, but I want to ensure that you open your own packages at the office." " Oh. embarassed No. " "Alright" I said, " I'll clear this off then." She replied: "oh, whatever." "I'll have *** ship you the external drive, and we can bill your department, or you can send it back to us when you've copied your things then." "Okay, great, have fun!" She hung up. "Have fun?? Whatever??... HMMMMMM" I had her drive shipped back, and then I thought about it for a rather long time. I decided that while it was possible I misinterpreted, I was going to look anyway. I got up and closed my door, so no one else could walk in and see it, in case it was REaLLY revealing, and I looked. I got past the first few 'provocative poses' where she had purple hair and was playing Rock Star or Guitar Hero or something, and as I scanned deeper, they got rather explicit. The video clips she had on there were nothing short of really good amateur hardcore. I watched each of them, some of them twice. No, I didn't sit in my office and wank, though frankly, I could have. On completion I wrote her an email that said, near as I can remember," Your data has been shipped using ########### Tracking number. You should receive it tomorrow. In the future, please bear in mind that all data on company owned computers is considered company property, and your manager is permitted to examine that data at any time it is deemed necessary. Additionally, on return to IT, it is possible that it could be seen as well. Installing personal software is prohibited, as is storage of personal data. On a personal note, please be careful what you put on there. I recommend an external hard drive like link to suggested part* or a thumb drive if you have personal data to take with you. Alternatively you may also consider an iPod. Thank you." Her reply to me was: " No. Thank YOU. I understand." I deleted the videos then, reformatted the thumb drive, and returned it to my crew. My tech asked me the next day if ****** was in trouble, and I said, " No, all I saw was either a bikini or a kind of lingerie picture, and I deleted the rest. were you offended, as yesterday you did not appear to be..?" "nope, I was just curious if she'd put anything juicy on there." "not that I saw. If it was there, it's long gone now" That was the last I heard of it. Never felt particularly bad about looking at the pictures, but I have questioned the ethics of it once in a while since. I still kinda think she was trying to get me to look at them and get a reaction. If I hadn't thought that at all, I would simply have deleted them after seeing the first two or three, and only those because it was brought to me and I felt it wise to try to ensure that there was no legal or HR issue. __________________ Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.