Email snooping: "I really don't care what is going on in their sordid little lives..."

Yesterday silicon.com published a story highlighting the fears of UK office workers who believe their personal emails are being snooped on by everybody from their own tech teams to their bosses and colleagues.

And the feedback started flooding in. Here is a selection of the best emails we've received so far.

"To be honest I really don't care what is going on in their sordid little lives..." An IT manager writes

I would have to say that within our group the general feeling is that we would love to find the time to sit back and monitor emails but as each user is sending out in excess of 100 emails a day this is impractical. On top of that most of the IT staff that I know are run off their feet 90 per cent of the time.

Therefore I would say to any one that thinks we have time to read their emails "come and spend a day in the IT department and see if you have the time".

I work between 50 and 90 hours a week just solving the problems that the users of the system create. I have no time to sit down and read their emails, and to be honest I really don't care what is going on in their sordid little lives, as I have more than enough going on in mine.

If users are that paranoid about these emails the simple answer is DON'T SEND THEM.

"I'd never had a shouting match with a director before..." From Glyn Davies

I once had the wonderful experience of a boss going through my email while I was out of the office. It wouldn't normally have been a problem except for the fact that I was on a job interview elsewhere at the time. I'd deleted all relevant emails, to remove any trace of my job hunting activities, save one, which she found - she always was very thorough!

It meant that when we parted ways the next day it wasn't amicably, and that morning turned into a competitive race between me to get my resignation on the table before she could fire me. That was a grim day. I'd never had a shouting match with a director before.

Anyway, the moral to the story here is that curious bosses can't get ahead by snooping on employee email. OK, my boss found out I was interviewing for a new job but the reasons for me leaving in the first place had occurred months and months before that, and she did nothing to solve those. In this particular case, spying on my email gave my ex-boss the opportunity to have the last petty word in an argument but it didn't stop the argument in the first place.

"It's worth supplying your IT dept with enough Jaffa cakes..." From Alex

I've been asked several times over the past few years to enable email snooping for senior management or directors. One research company I worked for had a designated login which could be used by any of the directors to snoop on anybody's email.

It's worth supplying your IT department with enough Jaffa cakes, because in the past I've refused and denied that snooping is possible. I think it puts IT staff in a very difficult position.

Most companies monitor emails for junk attachments and viruses, so make sure anything personal isn't going to be flagged up. Pictures are best hidden within word documents and you can do the same with video clips.

Best of all keep your personal email off company systems. Admins can't snoop servers they don't control (legally).

"We do 'snoop' staff mail boxes if we suspect they are not pulling their weight" From Peter Barnsley

As an IT dept manager we have a policy of no personal emails during work time - unless you are on a break. We do 'snoop' staff mail boxes if we suspect they are not pulling their weight. Disciplinary action can then be taken.

Keep the feedback flooding in. We want to hear your stories and opinion about this controversial subject. Email editorial@silicon.com.