Can My Employer View My Microsoft Teams Chat History?

[@LuiIacobellis]

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[@thesqlgod]

Not sure the location where some of these statements are being made. In the US, unless someone is aware of some law about it, all employer supplied equipment can be monitored for everything - period. The employer does not have to have cause for monitoring and even if they did, they could easily side step it by claiming intellectual rights or security monitoring. MS products such as Teams and Outlook (365) in particular goes as far as providing tooling to allow real-time monitoring of everything going on, so soon as you press enter on that chat message, it's recorded. If you delete it, that update to it is also recorded. Best rule of thumb when using company property and actually on company property is not to do/say anything you wouldn't be prepared to defend to HR/manager. Got to love technology...

[@LuiIacobellis]

I agree with the comments however in the video the message that I'm trying to convey based on my experience is that employers are not actively spending effort monitoring employee communications unless they have a reason to do so. Your rule of thumb is spot on also! Thanks for comment and for watching!

[@cloudywolffluff]

Thanks for walking through the employer side of the process too!

[@LuiIacobellis]

You're very welcome and thanks for watching

[@ATastyWish28]

what if the company terminated my access because I'm no longer working with the company. How long they can access my messages in teams. Do they have easy access or they need a powerful tool to do it?

[@bensassy8137]

Well I’m doomed. I talk shit about my coworkers all the time

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yikes! A general rule is don't type anything in any work app or even device that you wouldn't want your employer to see! Thanks for the comment

[@MoniqueBlairASMR]

Me too 😩

[@scarlettrose842]

Is there a way to see when your employer does access these logs? Are there logs in outlook or teams showing there was a query made?

[@LuiIacobellis]

This is an excellent question. I am sure that all create, retrieve, update, delete actions would be logged somewhere but I have never tried to find this myself. I'd suggest posting this over on the Microsoft Tech Community as someone else might have the answer. Hope this helps. techcommunity.microsoft.com/

[@neutechnica]

It is highly unlikely that you would ever been given access to these logs without a highly compelling reason. The smaller the company, the better chance for shenanigans. Larger organizations will restrict these capabilities and build in alerting to notify organization watchdogs that someone is searching people's history. Bottom line, always assume that your chat history can be pulled and you'll be fine.

[@the13islucky]

Is there a reason why an employer cant just have IT change the password of a fired employee and log into teams as them and view everything?

[@sainsburys.]

This is not a complex process and in fact displays how easy it is to view private messages. Once the data is queried in Purview it can be downloaded as a JSON/CSV file, significantly simplifying data extraction and visualisation

[@EmZeeee95]

Can they see, which programms running in the Background? Or Surfing in the Browser?

[@LuiIacobellis]

They would not be able to do those things through the app covered in this video. If so, it would be by using different solutions.

[@rondrake2674]

Does the employer have a legal obligation to advise they are snooping?

[@annanorris8380]

Can a specific search be made that includes a date, time period and two users? I have no keywords to go off

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes, this is doable for sure!

[@voicelesssoul]

Thanks. I have a question, my co workers are able to access my teams through their mobile devices. How is it possible? When ever i ping someone every one are able to see what i am sending?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Sorry for the delay. I'm not entirely sure how that would be possible. They would need your credentials to do that. I'd suggest checking in with your Microsoft administrator

[@mimimim]

I have noticed on some calls , I have a second headset on the screen, does this mean my calls are being monitored or recorded?

[@LuiIacobellis]

No, if you're meeting was being recorded you would be notified in the meeting menu

[@harinianbudoss407]

Incase if we delete that chat still could they able to retrieve and read it?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Users currently are unable to delete an entire chat. If you're referring to when you delete a chat message, yes your employer would technically still be able to see those messages. Thanks for watching

[@Exshoticdesign]

what if without searching keywords, the employer downloaded the complete chat log, and used some type of AI,like copilot for instance to check who is most likely to churn or who deserves reward, who is genuine?. etc. does his make sense?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Technically possible if they had reason to do so.

[@Yoralievkamol]

Hey, if I and my co worker spoke on the teams call without recording it, can IT or managers listen to that call in the future?

[@LuiIacobellis]

This depends on how your organization configured your Microsoft environment. By default I don't believe that calls are recorded and your organization would likely need to communicate this to you if they were doing it.

[@DavideBertola]

If you modify a message, instead of deleting, to they see the original version ?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes, they can. Each message gets recorded as a file that can be accessed in this method if required. Hope this helps and thanks for

[@steephaniieeeee]

How long is the data stored for??

[@LuiIacobellis]

It would depend on how the Microsoft environment has been configured. I believe the default is 7 years.

[@MarinaGrundy]

I did this but when I went to the preview page it said no data available however there were over 2k hits for the keywords I searched… any ideas?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Unfortunately I have never seen that error before!

[@malex8650]

Curious… can they see copy/pasted images? Not an image file but say you take a screenshot then paste it in the teams chat; there’s no file name or anything. Can they see the image?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes they can. Teams messages are stored in the same manner as emails. Therefore any message sent can be audited.

[@filtertips76]

can an employer see the viber on laptop work history message via Microsoft Purview or harmony check point?

[@LuiIacobellis]

If you're talking about the Viber app then they wouldn't be able to see if using the Microsoft products as it's a separate app. They may be able to using other tools however if the apps is used on a corporate device

[@filtertips76]

if the employer pay an third party company for Digital Forensics Analysis? Maybe uses the technics of Wireshark apps via capture packets ?@@LuiIacobellis

[@qlcrane8019]

What if I use my work teams to take a call from a user that is not part of the work "team" and is basically an outsider? Are those recordings/videos available for admins if they want?

[@LuiIacobellis]

If you recorded the external call then yes it doesn't matter if the participant was external, your employer would still be able to access it. Hope this helps

[@Yoralievkamol]

What if u talk to ur co worker via team phone, that call is recorded too?

[@mrxenosith8023]

Thank you for this video, very informative. Quick question, I ran a report, it informs me I have 65 items, when I click "review sample", it informs me there is no data available. Am i missing something?

[@LuiIacobellis]

You're very welcome. Unfortunately, I've never experienced this issue before. I'd suggest posting this over on the Microsoft Tech Community as someone else might have and may have some insights as to why this is happening. Hope this helps. techcommunity.microsoft.com/

[@koagaming9826]

If I download a zip file from the PWA teams in the personal laptop, they can be notified when I download the file ?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Hi KOA Gaming, yes I believe downloads can be audited as well. Hope this helps!

[@wolmark-ym9pw]

Can they hear or view the audio and video calls?

[@LuiIacobellis]

To the best of my knowledge they cannot hear or view audio or video calls unless they are recorded. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@DaveFloydHD]

A recent update introduced the "Delete chat" option, if I was to delete a whole chat with another employee, will the employer still be able to find it?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes. Deleting a chat just removes it from your chat menu, not the recipients and it doesn't actually delete the data where it's stored.

[@katechiew4940]

​@@LuiIacobellis if both sides deleted the chat messages, can employer still able to retrieve the chat messages?

[@nerdyempath]

​@katechiew4940 yes, he mentioned that it auto stores on an employer location as soon as you hit send. You can both delete the chat you had but it's already stored elsewhere

[@naaznawaz5690]

Can the original version of the edited messages is visible to the employer

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes they can. Each instance of a message gets its own record. Hope this helps

[@callimryan]

Do all managers have access? to all employees? Are there managers who don’t have access?

[@matgoreng]

high chance no, unless ur manager is the IT admin

[@LuiIacobellis]

This capability is typically restricted to very few people in an IT department although that may vary by organization

[@nehagupta-cq7ge]

Can employer also know what employees talk on teams call?

[@LuiIacobellis]

The call would have to have been recorded for it to be accessible to your employer

[@brettatkinson5786]

Does this apply to deleted chats?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes it does. Just because you delete them from the desktop app doesn't mean the record of the chat itself is deleted.

[@littlemiss137]

Does this search all chat history even if your employer has a 7 day retention policy with teams?

[@LuiIacobellis]

To the best of my knowledge, data that is purged via retention policies are not recoverable and would not be displayed through this approach once the retention period has lapsed. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@gunandia]

I have questions. Do my boss still able to track the messages that I have deleted? It says permanently deleted from my side but not from the other person side. Can my boss track and read all the deleted conversation i have made?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes, deleting a message on Teams just removes it from the view but does not permanently delete it where the data is stored. If you delete a message, your boss can still view it.

[@unitedwestand1994]

Can your employer look at your call log? For example: whilst watching training videos I like to put my self in a call by myself. Which can last an hour. Is this data available? As I am sure it would be strange to the employer and might cause some questions

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes your employer can see your call log if required. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@yahyaabulhaj6840]

Bro your boss can see everything LMAO, and with the latest Microsoft 365 updates, they now have some stupid charts and graphs to make the data-view easier hahaha

[@rwenwater5944]

hello, can they see deleted private chats?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes they can. The chat gets deleted from your Teams app but the record of it does not

[@Noursbear]

Well nothing would stop a malicious eDiscovery admin/mgr to do any search on anyone, using a generic word which is likely to exist in all mails and chats and just peruse all the results.

[@LuiIacobellis]

Very true. Hopefully organizations are governing these capabilities effectively to prevent misuse

[@Mithunmukherjee12345]

What if i move the emails to my local PST? Then can the employer extract those emails? I think not. thx a lot

[@LuiIacobellis]

In theory that would work but it's likely your organization would have backups they could access (if you have mail on premises) and if mail is in the cloud then they could still access it. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@Mithunmukherjee12345]

@@LuiIacobellis Thx a lot

[@LuiIacobellis]

You're very welcome

[@salcosentino3069]

On prem/ Microsoft exchange admin Center (PaaS) has LOG and Database drives / files you can access. Especially when your trying to journal

[@AhmadO5k]

If my organization deletes my account, will this data still be available?

[@LuiIacobellis]

That is entirely up the organization's configuration of their Microsoft environment. In most cases, the answer is yes the data can be made accessible via backups if it's required. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@salcosentino3069]

You’re right Lui . EDiscovery changed to Purview. We can build report / queries. How you been? K & L

[@LuiIacobellis]

Hey Sal! Long time! I've been well thanks. Hope you have been also!

[@salcosentino3069]

@@LuiIacobellis i know i know

[@user-bo1sx2pf8x]

Can an employer see things typed in the chat bar, but never sent?

[@LuiIacobellis]

No. If a message was never sent then there would be no record of it. Hope this helps and thanks for watching

[@KeyKey-j1m]

I deleted an entire chat. Would my manager be able to see that I was the one who deleted the entire chat?

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yes, messages are logged irrespective of whether the user deletes it

[@NierozillionFx]

Can they view my personal chat with a colleague ?

[@LuiIacobellis]

They can view any chat messages you sent using your work account. Hope this helps and thanks for

[@ryanhorton9594]

Queries are not needed. If no query is defined, all communication is exported

[@LuiIacobellis]

Thank you for the clarification! Much appreciated

[@skiutah182]

Thanks for this, super helpful

[@LuiIacobellis]

Thank you kindly Guy for watching!

[@astralbrothers5548]

Thank you.

[@LuiIacobellis]

You're welcome!

[@vamp5everr]

i just use it cuz i’m nosy :3 sys admin thingz:3

[@LuiIacobellis]

Lol

[@j.k.6089]

Funny question: of cause he can.

[@LuiIacobellis]

Yea!

[@Dungenz]

If I conduct a search like this - is there a log of this action stored somewhere?

[@LuiIacobellis]

I've never tested this myself but given the potential for misuse, I would assume that search activities are logged.

[@georgealapatt7445]

What if my account is deleted or the chats are deleted ?

[@LuiIacobellis]

If you're account is deleted data will still be retained and this is also influenced by the retention policies an organization puts into place. Hope this helps and thanks for watching