BootsnAll Travel Community

So I check the stats to see where people are coming from who look at my rtw site, and well, I just looked and one came from our work vpn hostname... its a sunday and someone who I work with probably is looking at my site... someone who I never told my travel plans tooooo... makes me nervous! Still have like 9 months to go before we leave - what if I get caught?! AH!

Yikes! That's why I never include my full name on my website.

Hopefully it's nobody that cares you're leaving.

yeah this sucks, i'm just really nervous. Honestly i think it is just a coworker in which case they'll ask me or talk to me about it... teamleads usually don't work on the weekends (i hope!). but i guess if it gets brought up i'll just say it is so far in the future still that we don't know what'll happen. Really, they are trying to hire people now, not fire them, sooooooo let's hope there's no issue with that.

It's just so frustrating to me bc they had to go out and search for me on the internet to find that site - not something i give out to my coworkers :-\ makes you think,eh?

I could go back and make the site less personal like taking down pictures, but there is so much personal info on there it would take a site overhaul to fix everything :-( rar how completely frustrating.. i'm sure i'll know more tomorrow.

Hello Brooke,

I wouldn't stress too much about it. What can they do? If you are a good employee and have no issues with your supervisors I don't see how this will be an issue. Unless you are talking trash about the company/coworkers/supervisors

I'd be more worried about why someone was searching for you. Now that's a bit odd.

Good luck, and let us know how things turn out!

Take a deep breath and let the force guide you young padawan.

Now, You can do nothing about your co-worker being nosey and googling you. If your bosses come to you "DON'T LIE". This is absolutly the worst thing you can do. If you do so and then quit, you will never get a good reference. Tell the truth. If you don't it will haunt you. Seen it happen too many times.

Maybe they stumbled onto your site because they're planning their own escape.... I mean, who wouldn't want to get out of "Normal"? (Sorry, I know, too easy.)

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but i guess if it gets brought up i'll just say it is so far in the future still that we don't know what'll happen.

Yeah, just say you didn't see the need to bring it up at work because it might not happen and you didn't want to worry anyone unless something becomes official.

I don't think you'll have any problems. Besides I don't think they can do anything as long as you're still a good employee.

I have a question, though. Is this what you looked like when you saw the server stats?

Thanks for the words guys - I always need some reassurance in situations like this :-)

I was finally able to vent to Brian about it and he said the same as bush trekker that I should just tell them the truth of the matter (that I have a dream to take a big trip in the future that I'm wanting to make a reality) if it comes up (to the teamleads/supers). As for coworkers, I'm thinking now that they probably won't even tell me they found it bc really... them searching me out just looks kinda creapy. Everything will most likely be fine, just that initial OH NO freaked me out... i'm depending on the money from this job for the trip and ahhh what if?! Yeah so i'm past that initial freak point.

And Yes, can't wait to get out of NORMAL, IL. This place is full of unfriendly people who are horrible drivers! Seems like everytime we're out we have a close call - so ridiculous... which is also amusing bc the town is home to State Farm and Country insurance companies, haha.

HAHAHA thanks DrToast. Yes, I'm pretty sure that is an exact depiction of my reaction... I heart that picture

little update - did some research today and realized it was vpn host of a supplier or dealer... so one of my customers quite possibly and not a coworker/teamlead. WHEW! I panicked for nothing! But the weirdness factor still persists.

While it's a relief that it's not a boss, just the thought of a co-worker, supplier, vendor, contractor, etc. trying to look you up on the internet would be understandably creepy. I'm sure you've already done this, but IIWY, I'd be on my own website scouring it for any personally identifiying info., photos, etc. to delete. If he/she is a supplier, and your pic is on there, then they could likely spot you when they come to your company..then who knows what. We hate to get all unrealistically paranoid these days, but sadly, it's reality.

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We hate to get all unrealistically paranoid these days, but sadly, it's reality.

This is a bit off topic but can someone here tell me...if I'm web surfing at work (during my lunch break of course) and then I go and delete all the cookies, temporary internet files, history, etc. can the IT person still go to the server and check out what Iv'e been looking at? If so, he's probably going to see lots-o-bootsnall!

bigmaude-
Unless youuse a shredder program which overwrites the history then yes. Simply by using winundelete or something like it they can pull up your history.

Actually, doesn't matter what you do. Behind a corporate firewall, all your requests go through computers run by IT, so yes, technically they could look up what you've been doing.

But, I don't know what your IT dept is like, but most are overworked just keeping things running and doing routine upgrades. Unless you've got a manager riding their backs, trying to build a case to fire you, it's unlikely to get a second glance.

bigmaude - yes if you guys log in with some sort of web password they can track you, too... i think tho at our company you have to go through HR to have the investigation approved first.

and I 2nd 2 wanderers about IT depts being busyyyyyyyy its my life!

As long as you're being a good corporate citizen and not slagging your employer, you should be fine. The only folks that I've heard that have gotten into trouble for this sort of thing were openly bashing their employer. There was some website about an airline stewardess (can't remember the URL right now) that got fired for something similar, but that was a rare situation.

Bigmaude,

As most everyone has replied to your question, yes there are many ways to track Internet activity despite your best efforts to hide your tracks. You pretty much have to assume that anything you do online is an open book. Like 2wanderers said, many (most?) IT shops are too busy trying to keep the train from running off of the tracks to worry about a little bit of surfing to a site such as BootsnAll. The IT department that I work in is no exception.

That said, we contract out our web monitoring, so I know that there are alerts in place, but they are primarily in place to keep the company out of hot water from harassment issues brought on by employees surfing to more risqué sites. I still regularly sign on to Boots during lunch and have never ran into any issues. Every company is different, so it might be a good idea just to see what sorts of surfing your co-workers feel safe engaging in.