CEO Reveals the 3 Things You Should Never Do on Your Work Laptop

A career coaching expert has shared the three things he would never do on a work computer, shocking many people about what data their boss can see.

“I just saw a video of a woman talking about how your company is spying on you and I think about this all the time,” CEO and founder of career coaching company Workhap, Sho Dewan said in a TikTok video. “Having worked in HR and recruitment, these are three things I wouldn’t do on my company laptop or phone.”

He proceeded to list the three things he would always avoid on a work device.

“Number 1: I wouldn’t say anything confidential or inappropriate on Slack. You’ll be surprised at how often it’s Slack messages that get people fired.

Number 2: I wouldn’t always trust the anonymous surveys. If the IT team really wanted to inspect who wrote what—they could.

And number 3: I probably wouldn’t take my work laptop and work abroad. A lot of these laptops now have a sensor so they know that you’re out of the country. It’ll lock you out and they’ll report you to your boss. You don’t want that.”

Recently released data from Forbes Advisor and market research company OnePoll has revealed that almost half of all employees have their online activity monitored by employers.

Despite increased worker surveillance, 68 percent of employees report there being at least one thing they’d be embarrassed to have their employer monitor, and one in three said activity from their employer’s online surveillance had been used in their performance reviews.

While some found that it had a positive impact on their productivity—four in ten—around 18 percent of employees reported stress or anxiety from being monitored by their employer.

In the U.S. the legality of monitoring employees in the workplace hinges primarily on federal law, particularly the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Under the ECPA, employers generally possess broad discretion to monitor employee activities on work devices and communications, as employees have limited privacy expectations when using company property.

However, the legality varies across states. Some, like California, have implemented additional laws such as the California Privacy Rights Act, which expands employee data protection and places more restrictions on monitoring practices.

While employers enjoy significant leeway in monitoring employees, there are state-specific regulations to ensure that practices are transparent, justified, and not overly invasive, to uphold a delicate balance between productivity needs and employee privacy concerns.

“From a security standpoint, it’s not the smartest thing to mess around using your work laptop,” Dewan told Newsweek.

When it comes to signs you might be being monitored by your employer, Dewan said it was difficult to know.

“That’s the tricky part,” he said. “You never really know until it’s too late. So just avoid it from the get-go.”