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I know my employer legally owns the email in my work email account, BUT....

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I know my employer legally owns the email in my work email account, BUT....

My boss called me at HOME this morning asking for my computer login and password under the guise that he wanted to install a particular software on my computer (which he did not).

I've been expecting an email, but it is NOT of a personal nature. It's a work-related email. When I logged in to my account this morning, I couldn't find the email. After restoring my deleted email, I confirmed that it had been deleted. I know the employer legally owns my email account, but what about my boss deleting my email? It's at the very least unethical as far as I'm concerned. Is it illegal? What would you do?? All I want to do is quit at this point.

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  1. Anonymous

    It doesn’t matter where you work. You’re not supposed to give anyone including your boss your user id and password and they’re NOT supposed to ask!. I would be looking for a new job ASAP

  2. Anonymous

    Sounds like a cybersecurity attack to me.. I would report that to your work.

  3. Anonymous

    I think they were testing you. I would ask your boss to make sure it was actually them and not AI scammer.

  4. Anonymous

    This could be it, but generally there’s a notice to explain that testing will occur. This happened at my company, but we had a whole training and walk through of why this was happening and what to do. They tried a lot of creative tactics. It helped people not to panic by getting trained on how to report issues, what certain things might mean, how to document etc. Also, it helped us catch a lot more things that people usually don’t even question.

  5. Christy James

    Bosses will never ask for your UID/PWD. While the company does have administrative access to systems, they do it through approved IT/HR channels if it is necessary to invoke. Obtaining and using someone else's security credentials is typically a firing offense because it is a security breach of authentication protocol. So either this was an external pishing attempt (change your PWD asap and report it) or it was something very suspect by your boss that is outside of normal protocols, especially if it was a specific communication that was erased. In any case, report it and it will be researched as a security breach.

  6. Kathy

    I would check your browser history. Perhaps he used your computer for a nefarious deed.

  7. Anonymous

    Change your password and begin your job search.
    This is beyond unacceptable.

    Also may have installed some spy software.

  8. Anonymous

    Thats what it sounds like to me as well…he probably installed spyware. Very concerning.

  9. sammy nyitamen

    This is unethical.

  10. Anonymous

    Change your password now.
    There are so many things wrong with this on so many levels. Your userid and password are yours. In some companies you even sign an acknowledgement that you will not disclose your password to anyone and can be grounds for termination. If you did sign this at your company, I would be sitting in the HR office right now. By giving him access to your computer and account, you are still responsible for anything he did under your id. Did he send off emails using your email account. What sites did he visit, etc. You have every right to ask him why he did this and if he did install a software on the computer - what did he install., What he did is unethical and in some places illegal.

  11. Anonymous

    Call your Legal, Compliance and HR functions NOW.
    That request is against many regulations.

    If it's a small business, yes, quit.

    That all said, you need to document this in a factual tone. Take pictures of/download suspicious emails. You've definitely got a case here...

  12. Jami Ross

    You never give out email address and password to anyone!!!

  13. Anonymous

    Way to blame the victim.

  14. Jessica Ferland

    That's not ok. Change your password and report the incident.

  15. Anonymous

    Legally your company owns not only your work email account but also everything in that account - including emails. Management is a legal extension of the company. It’s advisable to check your company’s policies on sharing login / passwords. You should change your password. Before assuming it’s unethical or unprofessional, speak to your boss. Ask why the email was deleted. Communication is key for any workplace relationship. Even if your boss did it on purpose, he may have a reason why.

  16. Anonymous

    No, this is false. As your manager is just an employee, same as their subordinate. If they’re deleting emails it’s a form of potential fraud depending on what it is. They are not entitled to delete anything purely because they’re management.

  17. Colleen Hanson

    Wow!
    I could have written this post myself! My previous boss, also the owner of the company, insisted on having everyone's login and password for the company email. If he would get angry with an employee, conveniently, important emails would go "missing". He would claim to have sent an employee an important email, which he would compose and send from his email, then he would go into the employees email and delete it before it could be read and would then delete it from the "trash". He always had the email on his end that he sent, but it could not be found anywhere else and he would proceed to make a big production out of it (screaming, yelling, belittling employee, etc.). He did this constantly and I believe he did it as a control tactic and also to use against employees when he would terminate them in order to use it so the employee could not collect unemployment (i.e. "not doing their job", "missing important information", etc.). He was the WORST! He terminated me when he found out I needed to undergo treatment for cancer and used these very excuses against me to prevent me from collecting unemployment (the state I live in is HORRIBLE when it comes to collecting unemployment; they didn't even give me a chance to provide all of my documentation to rebut what he had told them). I spoke to an attorney who basically told me the company email belonged to him and legally he could do whatever he wanted with it, however that did not make it ethical. Since the company was so small I could not file a claim with the EEOC but I have filed a claim with my state's Health and Human Resources Commission. My advice to you is to keep records of EVERYTHING (make copies, screen shots, etc.). Also, find another job as soon as you can!

  18. misskelleyp

    You have to hope that Karma pays that guy a very special visit.

  19. Anonymous

    This is the OP. I hear you! I’m so sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately there seems to be more than a few of these creeps out there that have positions in power. I hope you can get what you need in the end. F that guy!

  20. GirlBossanova934974

    Having worked in IT for a number of years, we did not take kindly to personnel out of IT installing or deleting any software on our machines. Asking for other people's passwords, another big no no. I would report this to your IT manager. Deleting company emails? What the heck? Again, another compliance problem for the IT department to deal with. HOPEFULLY, you have an IT Department manager who can step in and work with your HR Department to resolve these issues.

  21. Q

    I don't know what your particular workplace policy is, but where I work, it is forbidden to share login information with anyone. That includes a boss. Only the IT department has authorization to go into our machines, and they do it as themselves, not as us, so it shows on the access log that another individual was in the machine at a particular time.

    By asking for your information he may well have committed an egregious policy breach. At the very least, his actions are morally and ethically suspect. He logged in as you, so any actions he took while logged in will appear as you on the access logs. If he were to do anything under your account that is questionable by company standards, it could be attributed to you and not to him.

    I would report this immediately up the food chain because it represents a risk not just to you, but to the company itself. Most do not take this behavior lightly.

  22. Anonymous

    Exactly. I work in state government and our IT department would be all over a situation like this. If my boss asked for my login information, I would instruct them to contact the IT department to handle whatever needed to be done, citing the policy against sharing any of our login information with anyone. That is a serious security breach.

  23. Q

    I did see one person comment with a counter perspective, that of a small business owner. My caution for small business owners would be to ensure all of your employees are a) using company issued equipment and b) setup so that you as the boss have your own admin login to the system that would allow you the access you need to make updates and manage the machine.

    Yes, a small business owner may need to get into an employee's machine for a valid reason. I sincerely hope it would not be handled the way the original poster's situation was. I stand by it sounding suspect and even potentially illegal.

  24. EMILY KIKUE FRANK

    Change your password!

  25. Anonymous

    This is against most corporate IT policies. No user is allowed to have access to another's account, period. Doesn't matter if it's your boss or not. Even if your boss deleted the email, your company probably legally has to retain copies of everything that was sent so the email probably still exists. I would change your password and report this incident ASAP to your IT team. It sounds like your boss is trying to cover up something shady.

  26. Anonymous

    It’s unethical. Involve both IT and the boss’s boss. Document everything, screencap or use the “snipping tool” to save images. Change your passwords.

    What is he hiding? He didn’t even “install the software”.

    In my experience, liars and fabricators become emboldened each time they get away with it, up justifying to outright theft.

  27. Anonymous

    Ummm, what.

    This is not how installing software on your behalf works. IT will not need your password to do it if they distributed the computers. They can do all of that remotely. If really needed, they would ask you to come in and bring your computer with you. They will NEVER need to ask you for your password. That is sketchy as hell. Involve HR and your manager's manager. CC IT if a department exists. You can even frame it as "XX informed me that installing some software might be necessary. I was asked to provide XX my login details in order to install the software, which was share as requested. I just wanted to check in to ensure that everything is updated as needed and I did not miss any necessary software updates. Please let me know next steps."

    Adding that the owner of the domain will also never need your password to access your work email. They can still access it and transfer ownership after someone leaves. So your manager was up to no good and clearly did not involve those that have the access because if it was on the up and up, they could have easily done this. Change your password now.

  28. Christy R

    Never give your login information to anyone - including your manager. Contact your IT department which should have a process for reporting a security incident. If your manager wants access to your email or computer, IT has a process for that.

    As other posters have mentioned, your manager logged in as you, and anything that person did will come back to you as the responsible person.

    Address this ASAP with your IT department and your manager's manager.

  29. Anonymous

    wow. super weird. going forward, be sure to send every email you want to "save" to your personal email. Agree with others about reporting this...hope you don't get higher scrutiny for doing so, but you need to report this.

  30. misskelleyp

    Disagree with sending emails to your personal email, that could be construed as "stealing company IP".

  31. Anonymous

    That is shady as hell. Take your computer to IT and talk directly with them. Tell them what happened. Have them scour your PC for anything that might’ve been changed, deleted, or added without your knowledge. You don’t know what this guy did – he could’ve installed something you don’t know about. “Trust,” but verify.

  32. Anonymous

    Besides all of the other advice given here, when you get home, log out of ALL your personal accounts and change ALL of your personal passwords immediately. I am IT, and users often use the same password (or a close variation) among all their accounts, both work and home. When you create new passwords, a unique password for every account, you also need to change the answers to your security questions to something nonsensical in response that you are likely to remember. For example, the answer to "Your First Car" would be "Outer Limits" or my favorite food is "kitty litter."

  33. misskelleyp

    Now THAT is useful advice, thank you.

  34. Ann Braun

    Brilliant! I'm going to do this! Maybe not kitty litter but something nonsensical!

  35. Jennifer Anderson

    As an IT professional, I am just going to say THIS, THIS, THIS.

  36. Anonymous

    Cyber security person here, this can be flat out illegal in some places. Also, as many have said, it could mean your laptop has been compromised.

    example: a guy at a tech company installed software and a device to track the keys pushed on another employees laptop so he could steal and sell company secrets in an effort to not get caught. Thankfully, he still did, but it’s a very, very real

    issue.

    Also, as others have stated, due to security issues, NO ONE should be installing software on a company laptop, EXCEPT the company IT department.

    Finally, hackers can do incredible things these days. Are you sure it was your boss? There are a lot of instances of people pretending to be someone else and stealing money, trade secrets etc. from companies.

    People go to extremes these days. It’s wild.

  37. Barbara Sonin

    Do people think that everyone works in companies that have IT departments and HR departments?
    I own/run a small company. We have neither of those departments. I own/control the company email accounts, and control the passwords on those accounts. I'm also more often than not the one installing new or updated software on the computers. So the boss accessing a computer or email would not be strange in my office. Deleting an email is strange, unless it was by accident. It's probably not illegal, unless you work in the defense industry or other highly-regulated industry that receives audits. If you unfortunately work for a narcississitic, controlling boss like the one described in someone's comments, you can protect yourself by printing out copies of all emails as soon as received so you retain proof. (Was going to recommend forwarding to your personal email, but that could violate privacy rules regarding company emails).

  38. Anonymous

    On your computer go to: file explorer, C, Users. Is his login there?

    He's got a keylogger on your system, change all your passwords.

  39. Anonymous

    Mac or Windows? You can restore but what is it that was deleted that is causing you concern?

  40. LORI-ANN BURLINGAME

    It may not be your boss -- it may be the company's IT department. They monitor the use of your "company owned computer." Have your checked your employee handbook for policies on using company equipment?

    Why would they delete a business related email? Did the email contain sensitive subject matter? Something had to trigger an alert and notify your boss of this issue.

  41. Bradford McCormick

    I think your employer has every righ to delete "your" emsil. They can monitor your keystrokes. If this bothers you, you know what to do: copy it all, consistent with nondisclosure agreements and the reuirement to not expose classified information.

    BUT!!! Your boss calling you at home for your login and password does not sound right. You cannot trust this person. It would be the same if you were entering the building and your boss came in behind you and said he had forgot his pass card. NO! He could have been fired last nite and be a security risk. If your boss wants your login and password, I would first contact corporate legal. But at a a minimum it would have to be in his offie or your cubicle and you would need to have visually confirmed it was him.

    This person cannot e trusted. Next time he does it tell him before he even finishes the sentence you are going to report it to corporate legal or if not that then HR. Security first, boss!

  42. Bradford McCormick

    Sorry, one more point: Is that phone a secure line? If not, reveal no classified information to anybody over it witout explicit (auditable) permission from your employer.

  43. Anonymous

    Legally he owns the email. Try to be professional

  44. Anonymous

    The company owns the email system. Acceptable Use Policy says you’re not to use it for personal use. The boss has NO RIGHT to your password. None. Under no circumstance whatsoever. If the boss or anyone in the company needs access to your email they follow protocol which starts with going to IT Security and making a formal request. Even then they use ways to access email contents without the employee’s password. Quite often (and always in a good security scheme) passwords are not accessible in any way. They are hashed and not stored in the clear.

  45. Gabriella

    He could do anything while logged in with her credentials, then later blame OP, e.g., send messages from her email address, modify documents, embezzle money.

    OP would be able to prove it was not her, but she would go through being accused and defending herself, which could be a lawsuit or any other ordeal.

    The purpose of logins is to track who's doing what. She may not even be aware of everything he did under her credentials yet.

  46. Jackie Daniels

    Consider all the possibilities. Could it be an accident? Have you thought about addressing this directly?

  47. Anonymous

    There no circumstance under which this was an accident. NONE. The boss asked OP for the password - and used it. There are many things this may have been but it was NOT an accident.

  48. Sheri Trice

    Have you considered that this may have been a scam? Did the call come from a number that you know to be your bosses? There are a lot of AI scams that can mirror voices or tones via email and ask employees to do things like purchase gift cards in excessive amounts or to provide proprietary information so I would confirm that your boss that he made the request and you can do so under the guise of wanting to ensure that YOU were following security measures so as not to come off as what could be seen as accusatory. Good luck!

  49. Anonymous

    I'm curious what the email was.
    Was is something you think they are trying to hide? Idk, I know you're not supposed to catastrophize and usually give benefit of the doubt, but capitalism and greed is evil and I don't think most of these people have good intentions. Just my thoughts.

  50. Terri

    capitalism in and of it's self is not evil.

    People are flawed and are incentivized to bad behavior. Corruption can be found in all sorts of socio-economic-political environments.

    The key is to have good controls in place to keep good honest people honest. IMO capitalism is better because it allows for transparency and failure. In a true laiseize faire market economy people are allowed to fail and not protected from their bad choices or misdeeds.

    In other socio-politco-economic designs you have a problem with nepotism and buddy systems that protect people and miss use of taxpayer funds. The more the decision making is made at a granular/transactional level the less corruption is able to persist. That isn't to say it wont ever exist. It just has a harder time because the power and choices are disbursed. Where as in other environments decision making is decentralized and exposed to corruption.

  51. Terri

    Side note 4% of the whole population of the world are Sociopaths. No amount of government control can stop them completely unless you want to live in a situation where no one has any freedom.

  52. Anonymous

    This is a common scam. Did you double-check this with your boss? Is it normal for your boss to call you at home?

    Your boss shouldn't EVER ask for your username or password for anything. They don't need your email password if they want to install software on your work computer.

  53. Gerald Combe

    She never said the boss asked for her email password; it was here computer login and password. Even though, an employer has every right to know what login information an employee uses if it is owned by that company. No ifs, ands or buts!

  54. Arianne Kennon

    If this has been commented already, I’m sorry!

    I haven’t had time to read.

    I’m taking cybersecurity certifications at the moment and my old degree is in IT. Depending on the size of a business/if the company you work for has an IT department, there should be protocol in place stating that no one, under any circumstances should be given your login info, *especially* if the password is one that you use for personal accounts. A good IT department knows this, and they actually should have capability to access any work device if necessary without anyone’s login info etc. And anytime IT has any need to get into your computer/devices, these events are logged/noted in a ticket system or somewhere “official”. This way anytime IT has to fix or update anything on your work devices can be tracked/logged for SECURITY and practical “CYA” purposes. Even your boss needs to be working with IT for any reason that they might need access to your device. Again, unfortunately not all companies/orgs/businesses have these protocols in place, and worse, if they do, sometimes the higher-ups forget or try to get around this protocol. Basically, for some larger more established companies that do have an established IT department and these protocol in place, it is usually illegal to bypass IT/protocol. But definitelt check with your IT department to ask if there is protocol or policy in place.

  55. Marla Ray

    Get a new job; that's unethical!

  56. Terri

    Never ever under any circumstances give anyone (even your boss) your password.

    I am saying this to anyone reading this... if this happens again go straight to your HR. Infact I think the OP should go to HR.

    When someone does this they can do all sorts of illegal and fraudulent things under your name. This is a massive red flag and the boss should be fired immediately.

    I am in Internal Audit and if I found out a boss was making employees give their passwords I would escalate this up the food chain so fast everyone would be tripping overthemselves investigating this bozo.

  57. Anonymous

    I have fired management personal over the sharing of logins and passwords. I'm not sure what you do for this company but agree 100% that this is very risky for you as the manager could do something using your credentials and make it look like you did it. Change your password immediately, call your ethics hotline, HR, or report it to the next level of management. Typically your login gives more than access to your email. Most companies have rules around this and management asking for this information is grounds for performance counseling up to and including dismissal. If your manager wants access to your email, they go through HR and IT, following the policies and they get access to your inbox. They cannot and should not have your credentials.

    On a side note, what purpose would your manager have in finding and deleting the email? You need to ask why he/she would do this. What is the motive?

  58. Anonymous

    I have fired staff for personal use of the office computer. It was disallowed in the policies and procedures manual they signed agreement with when hired. Viruses, hackers and all other means of cybercrime can get access to the office computer and data, placing our clients and work environment at risk, also causing tech expenses. I don't drive their cars, they don't use my work tools. Simple.

  59. Anonymous

    They said it wasn't a personal email.

  60. Anonymous

    Poster said it was work related, not personal.

  61. Anonymous

    Did you even read the post before jumping into brag about sacking people? Clearly said it wasn't a personal email.

  62. Anonymous

    I hope I am understanding well... Based on the sequence of events you have shared your account access information with your boss, right? Does your company require you to confirm understanding and acceptance of policies on topics such as information and technology tools management? It is realy likely they do and one of the very firts policies I see everywhere is that sharing access info to any piece of information, infrastructure or application is not allowed... So if your manager accessed using your information to delete the email you are concerned about, to an objective third party looking at the case this may seem as you being the first one breaching serius policies... what comes next would only be a normal consequence from that... sorry that you may have been caught on such a situation

  63. Deb Shephard Moynihan

    Change your password.

  64. Ericka McKay

    Never share your password. The company can access everything thru IT.

  65. Kristie White

    From an ethical, privacy, data perspective - I don't think you have a leg to stand on. Your boss was wrong to ask for the information and you were wrong to give it to him. If there is an IT department, they should be handling all technical updates to start with. But this sounds like a small business where your boss is the IT department too and therefore performing this task is kind of a grey area. As a small business, wearing a lot of hats is normal and performing this task may also be normal. However, the big thing that stands out to me is the veiled reference to a work -related email that you were expecting and he clearly wanted to see so badly that he called you at home. Sounds like there may be an investigation going on, or a disciplinary action or something similar. He has concerns about the information you are going to receive - maybe it validates a deception or fraud - and he is deleting evidence. Of course, change your password. But if this is true - you may want to report this to HR. Something smells fishy here.

  66. Sophia Kelly

    Calling you at home to get access to your email is odd. If you have the kind of organization that has an HR department, then you may wish to advise them that your boss asked for your computer login and password and appeared to delete some of your email. If you are able to change that password, you should likely do so. I'd also just not answer any calls from work when you are at home. If there was an investigation and he needed to get into your computer, then IT could have given him access to your email without you even knowing, so his asking is a bit dodgy.

  67. Jen DiMartino

    You should not be sharing your password. Period.

  68. Anonymous

    This is the OP. Thanks for all the comments. Unfortunately this is a 3-person office, and he is the Executive Director. There is no HR department and he answers to no one except for the board of directors, who could care less. The whole story is that this person is extremely narcissistic and likely a sociopath because he believes he is above all the rules (and the law). This is only one incident of a string of extremely inappropriate and unethical actions he's committed in the office. The email he deleted was one written by an employee who was quitting that day. It was a goodbye email from her that also called him out for his bad behavior. The email was sent to him and she cc'd me and two other people. I'm assuming he didn't want anyone else to see it out of embarassment. Needless to say, after getting over the disbelief that he deleted that email I'm preparing to leave. No need to see any more.

  69. Anonymous

    P.S. I also recognize that I never should have given my password in the first place so I take responsibility for that.

  70. Anonymous

    Given that extra detail (3 person office, no HR, etc) I am very glad you are leaving. It’s an immoral place and unethical too. You don’t want to be there when things catch up with them. I’m relieved for you and have confidence you will land in a better place. Here’s to your future!

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