Is It Legal for My Employer to Access and Delete My Work Emails Without Notice?

Subject: Official Email ID Hacked

I would like to inform you that my official email ID was accessed by the IT department of my company, and all the emails were deleted. I was not even informed about this, nor was any notice sent to me. Additionally, they reset the password without my knowledge. I received an SMS regarding the password change. When I raised this issue with the HR department, they claimed it was due to a server problem that led to the deletion of emails. However, upon checking with other employees, their emails were unaffected.

I suspect that this was done under the instruction of my boss. Isn't this considered cybercrime? While I understand that I work for the company and the email ID is their property, how can someone hack into my emails, delete them, and reset my password without any prior notification?

I seek your advice. Can I take legal action in this situation?

No, you can't take legal action because while you work for the company, your official ID is their property and is controlled by the centralized server under the IT department. So, it's their right to control your email ID.

It is very true that the IT department has every right to delete emails if the server is unable to hold more data or for security reasons to protect against data infringement. On the other hand, the supervisor has the authority to authorize the IT department to delete unwanted emails. However, it is unfair if this is done without any notification. You can approach the HR department and request them to send a prior notification to avoid such actions without your awareness because ultimately, you are responsible for responding to emails at times. Therefore, my suggestion is to keep a backup of your emails.

Dear Ashwin Adhikari,

Official email ID, inbox, storage, and password are all company property, and the company has every reasonable right over them. Since they are not to be used for 'personal purposes,' an employee has no recourse to the privacy issue. As such, no cyber-crime is involved here.

Having said that, it is generally very uncommon to find the IT department deleting emails—unless due to some oversight. In case of suspected or proven misuse, employees are issued warning letters.

Since you suspect that it was under the instruction of your boss, I suggest that you be on alert with respect to your official work, communications, behavior, etc. Such incidents do not bode well for one's job. Do take extra care.

Warm regards.

Were you using the company computer/server for your personal emails/communication? That too during working hours when you should have been doing so for the company? If yes, then they have every right to delete material and reassign passwords.

May I suggest you use company time to do company work. Get yourself a private email ID and use your personal computer for your private communications.

• It is well within the authority of the IT Department to supervise and delete your emails. However, it is very unprofessional and unethical on their part to delete your emails without informing you and without giving any reason for the same.

• I feel first, you should make a formal complaint to the Head of the IT Department through your immediate boss about this, stating that your emails are deleted without your knowledge and no reason is given for this unilateral action. You can possibly mention in your complaint that due to the unilateral deletion of emails, important communication and data are lost forever, and it will lead to disruption in the working of your department. In case the deletion has happened on the instruction of your boss, he will possibly not support you to forward your complaint, and you will also know about the role of your boss in this matter.

• Please note that it is very difficult for anyone in an organization to lodge a complaint against somebody unless you have a strong boss on your side or you are also prepared to take on your boss as well, if need be.

• You will have to take a call on whether to pursue the complaint further without the support of your boss.

• You will have to tread very cautiously in this case by judging your own and others' positions and reputations in your organization and by prejudging possible reactions, pros, and cons.

Thanks & Regards

This is the first time I have heard of this incident. There must be some kind of suspicion from your boss or the IT department regarding your mailbox and email activities. So, be on alert. Use your official ID only for official emails, and if you do exchange a personal email through your official ID, delete it immediately. If you have lost some official emails in the process, approach the IT department and take a backup. They will be able to retrieve it from the server.

First of all, thanks for your reply. Please remember that assumption is the mother of all blunders. So you've assumed that I was using that ID for personal work and not working during working hours. Please don't jump the gun. Read the post properly, think, and reply. Why would the company delete my emails if I was doing something wrong? Instead, they would sack me or give a warning. It seems they didn't want certain communications I had with them to be on record. You seem to be talking like a typical HR, pointing fingers at the employee. For more information, go and read the IT Act with amendment 2008.

Sir, I have joined this site to get each and every information related to HR because in India, generally, employees are exploited as most of us are not aware of the rules/laws, and more often than not, employees are exploited. And my apologies if you didn't like what I wrote.

C'mon, people. I would request you all to be a little professional here and not take anything personally. Let's have a healthy discussion.

Mr. Ashwin, I would suggest you put forward a complaint to the HR department regarding this and let them find out the reason. If you have to stay in that company, you have to take things professionally and not personally.