Company time, company computer - their property!
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Deleting Files is a Crime?
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· Score: 2, Informative
If you do work on the company's property, the work belongs to them.
If you do work on the company's time (they're paying you), the work belongs to them.
If you do work on the company's computer, regardless of the above two, the work done on that computer belongs to them.
That's in California. In some other states and countries, it's quite possible that any work done by you in the general field of commerce engaged by your employer belongs to them, regardless of when, where and how you did it.
Thus, they certainly have a right to be looking for evidence on the computer that he'd done competitive work on it - that would belong to them. They looked, closely, and found.... nothing at all. Probably, just a clean, sanitized system (just like I always leave at the end of a job:]). So what? Sure, it's suspicious, but I'd say "too bad"; they certainly can't prove that he threw away anything useful.
I'm sure that any lawyer worth his salt can call any number of expert witnesses who can show that secure-deletes are not hacking, and are absolutely required in many instances.
Don't forget that any day you're at the office, they can ask for their laptop back - immediately - and you wouldn't have the ability to do any of this.
My advise - keep it as clean as you can. If really necessary, keep anything private on a TrueCrypt; at least they can't see inside it, and with the 2-level you can plausibly deny the existence of anything other than bogus "private" stuff in the first level if they force you to reveal the password, and keep the real good stuff really hidden.
My desktop replacement is..... a desktop replacement.
It sits on my desktop, making a ton of noise most of the time, and only moves about once a month or so when I visit the "real" office a few hours away.
I have the following plugged in most of the time: audio, 3x USB (keyboard, mouse, flash reader), Ethernet, external video (I use the lugtop's 17" and a 20" tube side-by-side, with the 17" on a home-made stand).
Now, the telling factor: When I visit the "real" office, I really don't need this computer. I barely need anything other than an X terminal. So for me, the only thing that this monster (9-10 pounds, not 11) gives me is another screen on my desktop and a supplementary heater for wintertime (which I loathe in the summer).
If I had to do over again, and I will sometime, I'd buy a really small lightweight laptop, use it 5% of the time, and have a real desktop with multiple video outs and a 2-3 LCDs on the desktop.
We unsubscribed completely to land-line long-distance - can't make long distance calls at all except from our cellular phones.
Of course, this means we had to buy a calling card for the fax, and also calling across town occasionally doesn't work either - amazing what they call "long distance".
I've always given notice (rarely more than two weeks - they can fire you in a day, and you can leave in a day - don't forget that it's all "business"), and typically am given only part of the two weeks "off", but I'm ready for anything.
In the lead-up to my resigning, I always go through any computers I use for personal files, and remove anything that doesn't really have anything to do with the company - make sure you've removed all browser cookies, clear the history, remove bookmarks. Personally, I'll go so far as to indiscriminantly uninstall software and then manually go through the files to remove any traces, and then scrub the free space of the computer.
Removing too many obvious personal effects may tip off co-workers, so I'll leave stuff like mugs or pictures, lava lamps - things that are clearly mine.
By the time I actually present my resignation, I've covered the various eventualities - the computer's totally clean, so if they "walk me out" then all I have to do is get the last few things off my desk. Of course, if they don't walk you out, you may be bored on that sterile computer for a couple of weeks.
Agreed.
I drive a 1997 Ford F350 4x4, Crew cab - huge, monstrous, yes. Diesel, at least, and it gets about 16mpg (13 when towing something big).
My commute? About 8 feet to my home office; perhaps 5000 miles a year on the vehicle.
I used to "commute" a little more in a '97 Chevy Impala SS, which almost always bested the EPA estimate - I got 20+mpg when really stomping on it, and about 27 on the highway (@80mph).
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That's in California. In some other states and countries, it's quite possible that any work done by you in the general field of commerce engaged by your employer belongs to them, regardless of when, where and how you did it.
Thus, they certainly have a right to be looking for evidence on the computer that he'd done competitive work on it - that would belong to them. They looked, closely, and found.... nothing at all. Probably, just a clean, sanitized system (just like I always leave at the end of a job :]). So what? Sure, it's suspicious, but I'd say "too bad"; they certainly can't prove that he threw away anything useful.
I'm sure that any lawyer worth his salt can call any number of expert witnesses who can show that secure-deletes are not hacking, and are absolutely required in many instances.
He'll get off, but sure it's a pain.
Don't forget that any day you're at the office, they can ask for their laptop back - immediately - and you wouldn't have the ability to do any of this.
My advise - keep it as clean as you can.
If really necessary, keep anything private on a TrueCrypt; at least they can't see inside it, and with the 2-level you can plausibly deny the existence of anything other than bogus "private" stuff in the first level if they force you to reveal the password, and keep the real good stuff really hidden.
It sits on my desktop, making a ton of noise most of the time, and only moves about once a month or so when I visit the "real" office a few hours away.
I have the following plugged in most of the time: audio, 3x USB (keyboard, mouse, flash reader), Ethernet, external video (I use the lugtop's 17" and a 20" tube side-by-side, with the 17" on a home-made stand).
Now, the telling factor: When I visit the "real" office, I really don't need this computer. I barely need anything other than an X terminal. So for me, the only thing that this monster (9-10 pounds, not 11) gives me is another screen on my desktop and a supplementary heater for wintertime (which I loathe in the summer).
If I had to do over again, and I will sometime, I'd buy a really small lightweight laptop, use it 5% of the time, and have a real desktop with multiple video outs and a 2-3 LCDs on the desktop.
Id est, they didn't have any credit available - it's not as though their money was tied up. It was the bank's money that wasn't available to them.
So what?
That would be a mistake they only made once!
Of course, this means we had to buy a calling card for the fax, and also calling across town occasionally doesn't work either - amazing what they call "long distance".
I've always given notice (rarely more than two weeks - they can fire you in a day, and you can leave in a day - don't forget that it's all "business"), and typically am given only part of the two weeks "off", but I'm ready for anything.
In the lead-up to my resigning, I always go through any computers I use for personal files, and remove anything that doesn't really have anything to do with the company - make sure you've removed all browser cookies, clear the history, remove bookmarks. Personally, I'll go so far as to indiscriminantly uninstall software and then manually go through the files to remove any traces, and then scrub the free space of the computer.
Removing too many obvious personal effects may tip off co-workers, so I'll leave stuff like mugs or pictures, lava lamps - things that are clearly mine.
By the time I actually present my resignation, I've covered the various eventualities - the computer's totally clean, so if they "walk me out" then all I have to do is get the last few things off my desk. Of course, if they don't walk you out, you may be bored on that sterile computer for a couple of weeks.
Reminds me of chair sex. I don't remember the link to the orignal, but here's an absolutely hilarious movie with chairs: http://paul.binarycore.net/fp/roofsex/roofsex.mov
Agreed. I drive a 1997 Ford F350 4x4, Crew cab - huge, monstrous, yes. Diesel, at least, and it gets about 16mpg (13 when towing something big). My commute? About 8 feet to my home office; perhaps 5000 miles a year on the vehicle. I used to "commute" a little more in a '97 Chevy Impala SS, which almost always bested the EPA estimate - I got 20+mpg when really stomping on it, and about 27 on the highway (@80mph).