[bubbaman]

If you have a BB on BES what can the admin actually look at? Say you are on Cingular or Verizon and on BES with the company you work for. What messages can they read that you send/receive? I have read many forum postings and can't get a clear picture of what they can/can't do. If any one can clear this up I was curious about SMS, Email, BBMesenger, and what addresses you got to on the mobile web. Can they monitor them all? For you BES admins out there do you monitor them much?

[JSanders]

Wirelessly posted (8700g: BlackBerry8800/4.2.1 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Whetheror not they do so is really not the question. They can do so. Simply awssume anything on your BlackBerry or transmitted to or from it is available for your IT people to view or read. That includes your contacts, emails, websites viewed, data downloaded, and phone calls and SMS.

[artemis104]

i didnt realize phone logs, sms, etc. were all viewable too. i assume this is a case on a hosted BES too. if one is on hosted BES should they be concerned about privacy when it comes to email, etc.?

[bubbaman]

Originally Posted by artemis104

i didnt realize phone logs, sms, etc. were all viewable too. i assume this is a case on a hosted BES too. if one is on hosted BES should they be concerned about privacy when it comes to email, etc.?

This was one thing that I was thinking about. I have heard about BES co-ops and was thinking of maybe signing up, but you really don't know who the bes manager is. I talked to him and he said that it wasn't possible to look at what was sent and recieved. I didn't think that was the case, but I didn't really know for sure.

[btdown]

Don't forget they can get PIN messages also.

[Dawg]

this is the reason my company chose not to use a hosted BES.

[x14]

They also have your PIN, IMEI, and SIM ID. They can also push software down to your BB without you knowing it.

[takeshi]

From a practical standpoint you can't assume that anything on a company BES-connected BB is private. It's definitely the same with hosted BES since BES is BES, however, people more frequently ask about what their company's BES admin can and can't see. Your BES hosting company won't fire you or affect your job in the same way that your BES admin could if he/she runs across something that they deem as "inappropriate" -- whether you agree with them or not.

It was "common knowledge" a few years ago that PIN's were private since they weren't transmitted through BES. However, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce story from ~2005 proved that wrong. The short answer is that if it doesn't jive with your company policies and if you want to keep it out of their eyes then keep it off their BB.

[pronerd]

Originally Posted by artemis104

i assume this is a case on a hosted BES too. if one is on hosted BES should they be concerned about privacy when it comes to email, etc.?

Think bigger. Any information you send across any network can potentially be seen by others. Unless you have a true end to end encrypted tunnel the information you send out over networks is exposed. So everything in every email you ever wrote, IMs, website forms, information about you transmitted by spyware, information about transmitted by normal applications etc. can be read by anyone on that network.

Then take into account all the sharing of your information done by others. A lot of the companies you do business with sell/share at lest some if not all of the information they have about you(Name, Address, phone, email, credit card, social security number, etc.). Who knows how often they actually encrypt the information when sending it. My guess not very often. This is why you should always read privacy policies.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by pronerd

Think bigger. Any information you send across any network can potentially be seen by others. Unless you have a true end to end encrypted tunnel the information you send out over networks is exposed. So everything in every email you ever wrote, IMs, website forms, information about you transmitted by spyware, information about transmitted by normal applications etc. can be read by anyone on that network.

Then take into account all the sharing of your information done by others. A lot of the companies you do business with sell/share at lest some if not all of the information they have about you(Name, Address, phone, email, credit card, social security number, etc.). Who knows how often they actually encrypt the information when sending it. My guess not very often. This is why you should always read privacy policies.

very good point indeed

[artemis104]

good points. do you think theres anything to be worried about when using hosted bes? what are the chances a legit company is going to read through your emails and logs, push software to you without you knowing, etc.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by artemis104

good points. do you think theres anything to be worried about when using hosted bes? what are the chances a legit company is going to read through your emails and logs, push software to you without you knowing, etc.

I wouldnt be too worried about it but if the company has any dishonest employees those would be the ones I would be worried about.

[artemis104]

Originally Posted by Dawg

I wouldnt be too worried about it but if the company has any dishonest employees those would be the ones I would be worried about.

true and i guess in that case you'd have to be concerned about your credit card info too and not just your emails. hopefully i wont have any issues with my hosted bes.

[bubbaman]

Now that I know everyting can be looked at, how many of you BES admins actually look through people's email, sms, and BB mesenger messages? I'm not talking about people just looking, I am more interested in how many would report to their bosses about something they found.

Is their any way to put up a poll for this? I'm not sure how to do it. I'm curious of the following:

How many BES admins would report to their boss for:

1.) Non-company use messages such as making afterwork plans
2.) messages between a "couple" (you get the picture)
3.) emails of someone looking for a new job

[juwaack68]

I wouldn't look at any of those.... unless there was a reason for me to, like a request from HR.

[pgab]

They can see SMS? Aren't those transmitted directly to your service provider?

[Dude]

are the contents of the Password Keeper viewable by the BES admin?

[Stinsonddog]

I hear they can see what's going on in your bedroom!!!!!!

[jakob]

Originally Posted by Stinsonddog

I hear they can see what's going on in your bedroom!!!!!!

who knows what the hell they are going to do with the new cameras in the curve and pearl....

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by bubbaman

Is their any way to put up a poll for this? I'm not sure how to do it.

Yup -- it's a built-in feature of the forums but you have to post a new topic. I can't see the statistical significance in such a poll but why not?

Originally Posted by pgab

They can see SMS? Aren't those transmitted directly to your service provider?

As I pointed out earlier in this thread, PIN's aren't transmitted via the BES at all and were though to be completely private until "common knowledge" was proven wrong. Even if the gurus here told you that SMS was totally private how do you know that those claiming to be in the know won't be proven wrong down the road?? If keeping something private is a must then keep it off a company BES-connected BB. Otherwise you're taking a risk. With some employers it's no big deal. With others you really need to watch what you're doing.