Who Doesn't Have A Home Computer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither my husband nor I have a personal home computer. And we both work in the software/tech industry. We are just so used to using our work laptops, never had the need to buy one.

OK- that is different. You could bring the laptop home in the event of bad weather. This is a person that has no ability to get on the internet when she isn't at work. That is ..... just.... weird af in 2024. That's like not having a cell phone.

No it's not weird. In fact, it is not weird because it is 2024. If you were talking about 10-20 years ago, yes, people would generally own a computer. Now the world runs on cellphone apps and other smaller devices like iPad etc.
Office work should never be done on personal laptop anyway. So, I don't find it weird the new hire saying they don't have a device to do their own on.

[Anonymous]

Dh has one, but I don’t. We bought a Chromebook for the kids when the pandemic started and I use that sometimes. I do use my work computer for personal stuff occasionally, but I’m not doing anything more exciting than checking email or buying a few things online.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a computer. My job doesn't allow us to work remotely so they don't provide laptops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tells me that she has good boundaries and doesn't want work on her personal devices.

If your employer wants work done from home, supply a laptop.

Yup. It's actually irrelevant whether she has a personal computer, she doesn't have to do work on it. To take it one step further, it sounds like your employer doesn't allow her to telework so why should she magically be allowed when there's snow?

Precisely.
I have a work laptop provided by my employer that is at a docking station at work on my office days, and my home office on my WFH days. Even if I have two in-person days in a row, the laptop comes home with me—so if weather happens, I can work.

Give her the tools if you want her to do the job at home.

[Anonymous]

I only have a laptop and we have Chromebook for the kids. My husband has a desktop, but I would never think about using it for work. Weird. But anyway, I work in a very remote friendly job and obviously we have laptops… I don’t understand a company today that would allow someone to work on their personal computer as other folks have said for security reasons. This seems very strange and if you want people to work from home, you need to equip them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tells me that she has good boundaries and doesn't want work on her personal devices.

If your employer wants work done from home, supply a laptop.

Yup. It's actually irrelevant whether she has a personal computer, she doesn't have to do work on it. To take it one step further, it sounds like your employer doesn't allow her to telework so why should she magically be allowed when there's snow?

This. If telework is only "allowed" when it's for the convenience of the employer, then the employer should supply the necessary equipment. It's TERRIBLE IT security to have people do work on their personal devices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Neither my husband nor I have a personal home computer. And we both work in the software/tech industry. We are just so used to using our work laptops, never had the need to buy one.

I did this for many years until a year or so ago when our companies changed their security rules and got more strict about doing personal stuff on work laptops and made it harder to do things like use gmail, etc. Then we both got personal laptops. My employer does not allow nor would encourage us to use a personal computer for work.

[Anonymous]

Not weird at all to work on home laptop with property security.

[Anonymous]

Our company’s policy is that if you do company work on a personal device, they have a right to look through that device if ever needed. Nope. Not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Is this person young?! Does everything on their phone? I don't get it. You gotta have your own computer. I will not do any personal things like banking or research on my DOD government machine it's unprofessional and irresponsible to not have your own computer in 2024.

Can you imagine looking up some weird rash or side effects from medication, now it’s part of the federal records (unlikely unless lawsuit but still).

That's not how it works.

If you clear your history, cookies, and cache each time you close the browser, the computer is essentially clean. There is no record of what you used it for unless there is a keystroke logging program installed or you downloaded things. Your internet provider, however, could supply your search history, but only then if you aren't running everything on an encrypted VPN. And even then it would require a warrant. Having an itchy rash isn't reasonable cause.

NP but no. You actually can't clear your browsing history(at my large Department). IT can pull them up at any time, but yes they aren't saved forever. I've seen them pulled up in disciplinary cases. We do not have a keystroke logging program.

I can't tell if you're being snarky or don't actually understand what I'm saying, but what you describe is different. Your university may have restricted its laptops to not be able to have history deleted. They likley restrict what browser you can use and whether you can download things or have admin access to the machine.

But, simply stated- a computer keeps no permanent record of what browsing was done on it. If you clear the browser after each use an investigatory effort would focus on the internet provider at that point, not the machine.

Or the invisible web proxy which IT installed between the Internet and the Intranet. Or look at DNS query logs to see what do ain names one was visiting. And, There are lots of other ways to track beyond what PP outlined.

Exactly, if you have a corporate laptop, assume everything is logged, even if you judiciously delete cookie history etc (in fact routine cooking and history clearing will probably attract attention.

Yes on your home computer, you can clear your history, but your ISP definitely has a log of sites you visited unless you used a VPN (which will have their own logging).

You and PP are having a really hard time understanding the difference between what is stored on the network and what is stored on the laptop. No browsing history is stored ON the laptop that isn't cleared when you delete your history (unless there is a key stroke logger installed).

I could take a FBI laptop, google how to build a bomb and blow up the white house, and as long as I purged the history, there would be no record of it AT ALL on the machine. It would only exist on the network. Not sure how this is hard to understand in 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our company’s policy is that if you do company work on a personal device, they have a right to look through that device if ever needed. Nope. Not going to happen.

Your company isn't the Attorney General of the US. They have the same right to demand access to your laptop as does your neighbor. Which is to say.... none.

[Anonymous]

I could take a FBI laptop, google how to build a bomb and blow up the white house, and as long as I purged the history, there would be no record of it AT ALL on the machine.

I'm guessing that you know nothing about forensic data recovery. If someone is willing to spend time and money, it is amazing what can be recovered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither my husband nor I have a personal home computer. And we both work in the software/tech industry. We are just so used to using our work laptops, never had the need to buy one.

I would never surf the web and send personal emails on my work computer. A very bad idea.

I work in tech and don’t own a home computer. I do those things on my phone or iPad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our company’s policy is that if you do company work on a personal device, they have a right to look through that device if ever needed. Nope. Not going to happen.

Your company isn't the Attorney General of the US. They have the same right to demand access to your laptop as does your neighbor. Which is to say.... none.

I mean, you can think you are right, but you are not.

[Anonymous]

I don't have a vested interest in this one way or the other, but it sounds like a one off. Was the employer trying to save her the commute by letting her know she could work at home? Was her other option to take leave (or go in?)?.