GG co-worker saw pics of me completely dressed

[~leanne~]

While in my office (shared) I had some free time and I was organising some pics on my flash drive, I had opened 6 or 7 of me in different outfits, wig heels make up the works, I thought as I opened the next one the previous one disappeared, it didn't,,, next thing a GG colleague who's actually a few pay grades higher than me was in the office behind me, in the panic I inadvertently tried to close a pic from the tabs on the bottom of the screen, as soon as I hit it it came up on the screen Doh! I clicked close and the next one appeared and the next and the next until they were all closed.
I looked at her and realised she had seen them all and was looking a little shocked, she never said anything but I was mortified, I saw her later and just sai " I'm more than a little embarrassed at what you saw, it's pics from our themed come dine with me parties where we all dress up". Not sure if she swallowed that but she never said any more about it and hasn't to my knowledge told anyone.
So moral of the story, don't do anything with your pics anywhere but at home on your own PC

[Krisi]

It's been said time and again, "don't poop where you eat." Normally that's applied to having an affair at work because it can cause you to have trouble or lose your job. It works just as well for crossdressing. You need a job to support yourself and your family so anything you do to jeapordize that job is foolish.

You did two things wrong here; one, you outed yourself to a co-worker. She may not tell anyone, but there's a good chance she will tell a friend or two. This could hurt your chances of advancement or even just get you "let go".

Second, you were doing personal business on company time and company equipment (the computer, the office, etc.) You shouldn't do that and it's also something that could get you in trouble with your employer.

It happened, you can't rewrite history, but you should be more careful in the future and make an effort to be a model employee so there won't be a reason for them to get rid of you.

[switcheralso]

Go with the motto NSFW.

[kimdl93]

Yeah, probably not stuff you want on the office computer.

[CarlaWestin]

I'm not sure about how it is at your company but, the multinational corporation I work for has extremely strict user policies to include key-loggers, usb permissions and network/internet tracking and monitoring. Now that the toothpaste is out of the tube you might want to speculate your responses if the incident becomes an issue. In all truthful actuality, you were only sorting personal photos on company equipment, exactly as your fellow co-workers do everyday. Just take a look at their screensavers and desk top images. Your images are not pornographic and gender expression is not a crime. Your only issue is personal use of company equipment and the non productive time, just like the folks that spend company time feeding their cigarette habits everyday. If the crossdressing images become an issue you must remember that you are federally protected against discrimination based on gender expression. Remember, you were doing nothing more than sorting family photos just like your co-workers do every day. Oh, and go get a tablet or something.

[~leanne~]

This was an issue which happened almost a year ago, I just thought I'd share, there have been no reprisals for it, there is internet filters/blocking from certain sites so not a problem there, it's a very large multinational company I work with but we are permitted to use the computers for personal things in our free time which is what I had at the time, the canteen is a distance from the office so I tend to just have a coffee at my desk and do my personal things, so the only issue is that I pretty much outed myself to a young female colleague, nothing has ever been said and I have a good working relationship with the girl who caught me so no worries.

[Babbs]

Krisi...you are right....never ever use the work computer for personal stuff...Also don't think the incognito window covers you, your IT people can always see where you've been.

[Krisi]

I used to be an IT person and I had the ability to view any computer screen on the network. I could take screen shots and even control the computers remotely. Even if you claim to be doing this on your "break", you are using company equipment for personal use.

[Krististeph]

Exactly why i would bring in my own laptop to work- not to sort pix or anything, but to keep things confidential. I basically mirror my work drive on the laptop, and did the reporting work on my unit, using the work computer for reference stuff. Sometimes swapping files is a pain with the thumb drive, but since i did this- there were multiple copies of my work backed up and it saved me a lot of downtime on several occasions when the company's system went down. Plus, I was able to get other engineers working too- as I had backed up most of their stuff as well for reference use.

All-in-one systems are fine, until that one thing crashes. Then, nothing beats physically separate backups, and all the extra malarkey of mirroring drives and files pays off in an instant.

But the truth is that if you don't want any one to see certain pictures- do not put them on your computer.

[Beverley Sims]

Leanne,
It is good to know that you have learned that little lesson. :)

[Billiejosehine]

While I have showed people at work photos of through my phone, it never good to bring stuff like that to work, unless you truly know how they will react or are accepting. There been many times I would want to view or organize pictures on my laptop, but it's my work computer and IT can monitor or access my computer 24/7. And there is a policy in place about not using the laptop for personal use. So imagine if IT came across personal stuff on the computer; pictures (although I have a couple of my family for use as a background, which is okay), websites, or anything that can be questionable.

[MsVal]

So, here you sit, wondering what will happen. Your female coworker, a couple paygrades above you now has control of the situation. You want to take control.

Here are the three steps I like to follow when unplanned things happen, good or bad:
- Own it - Admit it exists, you already know about it, it's your baby, you get to define what "it" is.
- Get in front of it - Tell the necessary people what you know about it and what you'll do about it.
- Manage it - Take control of the situation before someone else does and denies you that opportunity.

In this context, it may be uncomfortable, and no one would think less of you for failing to do this:
- Go to the coworker and tell her what she saw on your computer. She saw some personal pictures on an office computer.
- Tell her what you were doing and that you are about to tell her boss. You were reviewing personal pictures on the office computer during some down time at work. You want to let her know before going to your boss to say the same thing.
- Tell them both that you are embarassed by this incident and will not let it happen again.

Most large corporations have pretty uniform policies relating to pornography, use of computing equipment, and use of time. Barring pornography (an immediate dismissal) the rest are minor infractions.

Best wishes
MsVal

[Stephanie47]

The government agency I worked for allowed employees to use their government computers for personal use on breaks or before or after scheduled tours of duty,AS LONG AS THE EMPLOYEE DID NOT INTRODUCE ANY MATERIAL TO THE COMPUTER. Checking personal email accounts were forbidden as the agency did not want viruses to be introduced to the internal networks. Of course, objectionable websites were forbidden.

[Kays_Heels]

MsVal is right and her plan is as good as any of regaining the upper hand. Better to grasp the nettle and neutralise whatever leverage she may think she has before she can use it against you or to the benefit of her circle of colleagues. I for one would not like to be beholden to anyone who does not necessarily owe me any loyalty. A lesson for us all to learn well for our own wellbeing. Best wishes and good luck!

[Deedee Skyblue]

Leanne said it happened almost a year ago. Trying to 'own it', 'take control of it' at this point would probably cause more issues than letting it ride. She has a good working relationship with the woman who saw the pictures, nothing has ever been said, and, as several people pointed out, there really was nothing wrong with what she was doing. I can't speak for most companies, but the places I have worked have never had an issue with employees using their computers in 'down time' for non-business purposes - assuming they are not criminal, pornographic or offensive.

It is good practice to remember that when you ARE using a company computer, or even your own computer on the company network, there is the possibility that anything you do can be monitored by IT. Assume that your computer activities are being watched and make sure you behave accordingly.

Deedee

[CassieD]

You know how shopping sites often flag up suggestions based on what you were looking at last. I found this out at work when I logged on to ebay at lunchtime to buy man stuff and was faced with a page of heels and wigs.

[MelissaMeyers]

Don' t feel to bad. Information is so easy to share by mistake these days. I have a picture of my femme self saved as home screen on my phone. Then the boss phoned and wanted to speak to a co worker of mine. He wandered off with my phone and Im pretty sure he saw it when he disconnected the call. He didnt say anything. Im just glad he didnt make a pass at me. That will be a disaster.

[CynthiaD]

Get a smartphone. It's secure if you connect through 3G, and you can take it anywhere.

[DaphneMiller]

Best thing I learned is that on a Windows PC, pressing the 'windows button' and 'D' minimises everything, pretty much instantly. A lifesaver.

:)

Daphne

[Karren H]

Karren has her own laptop and her own smart phone.... external hard drives and flashy drives...... so none of her fem photos are on home or work computers or electronic devices... (why am I talking in the third person?)

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Leanne, I think that in the back of your mind you wanted to get caught.

[lingerieLiz]

The problem with your using the company computer to sort pictures is that you may have introduced a virus. More companies are baring employees from bring in things on thumb drives. The flip side is you could have induced a virus on your thumb drive. Some of the viruses export everything from your drive to other sites. Keep your stuff at home.

[Delila]

Being in IT I know what is generally safe. I connect to a home computer with a remote desktop session. No actual data is transmitted simply a picture of your home computer. This prevents anyone from using any sort of history to see what you have been looking at. That being said within a corporate environment you should never ever assume that your data of any sort is safe. Large companies in particular have a fondness of spying on every little thing that you do. Glad to hear that your coworker didn't out you it sounds like you may have gotten very lucky.

[cdyoung114]

Hopefully nothing will come of it... But this is why I stay off the computers at work

[Sallee]

how do you know 1 she saw it and 2 she recognized you. I won't worry about it and I certainly wouldn't bring it up unless some one else did first.
that kind of happened to me only it was a hard copy and in my desk, she was looking for a pencil. I let it all out when I was confronted. Sallee got a new friend out of it. So it worked out great.