When you're logged in to your company's Microsoft Teams workspace, you may wonder how much access your boss has to your activities and data on the platform. In truth, Microsoft Teams's business plans are designed to give the businessowner or administrator virtual control and insight into the corporate information and activities shared or conducted on the platform. Think of it as a virtual version of your company. 

Hence, your employer is allowed to monitor most of the information flowing in and out of the Microsoft Teams environment, just as a boss in a physical company has access to most offices of the company.

However, what exactly is “most of the information”? What can your employer actually see on Microsoft Teams? We'll provide clear answers to these questions in this guide.

How Much of My Activity Is My Boss Allowed to See on Microsoft Teams?

While Microsoft Teams may allow you to have your own cloud storage space and engage in private chats or breakout rooms, this isn't the same as having a private room in a mansion. The platform gives your employer the ability to monitor or track what you're doing inside your “room” to ensure you align with the company's goals.

Here's a list of what your employer can see on Microsoft Teams:

• Your chat history, including one-on-one and group chat messages
• Actions such as logging in, logging out, creating a team, and deleting a team
• Your deleted messages
• The apps (including add-ons) that you use inside of Microsoft Teams. While your employer can see that you use these apps, they may not have direct access to their content
• Microsoft Teams meetings you've created or joined, including the subject, date, time, attendees, and duration.
• The number of messages you've sent 
• Microsoft Teams meetings you've recorded, including the content of the recordings
• All the files you've created, uploaded, or shared on Microsoft Teams (OneDrive and SharePoint grant your boss access to these files)
• Microsoft Teams channels you've created and participated in
• The content you've created in Microsoft Teams channels, including your tabs
• The device you use to log in to Microsoft Teams
• The brand and model of headset you use to join Microsoft Teams meetings
• The IP address you use to log in to Microsoft Teams
• The operating system of the device you use to log in to Microsoft Teams

Can My Boss Monitor My Calls on Microsoft Teams?

While Microsoft Teams itself doesn't offer real-time monitoring of personal calls, your boss may be able to track your calls if they are made as meetings. This is made possible by the Teams meetings recording feature. Your boss can also access your call logs, including who you called, and the duration of the call through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Meanwhile, some third-party monitoring tools may allow real-time monitoring of Teams calls. However, this depends on your company's policies—many companies have employee privacy policies.

Can My Boss See My Deleted Messages on Microsoft Teams?

Short answer—yes! 

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Although deleting a message on Microsoft Teams removes it from your view and that of other users in the chat, it may still be stored on the servers. This allows your company's administrators to access the message through Microsoft 365’s compliance features and other tools.

What Can't My Employer See on Microsoft Teams?

Remember we said your employer can see “most of the information” you feed Microsoft Teams with. Still, your boss needs extra effort to access some data.

These include:

• Real-time monitoring of private chats: Although your employer may be able to retrieve your private chats later, they're not readily accessible in real-time.
• Specific app usage time: Microsoft Teams allows your employer to see what apps you're using on the platform. However, they can't readily see the exact amount of time you spend on each app.
• Direct status tracking: While your boss can see when you're marked as “away” or “busy” on Microsoft Teams, the platform doesn't inform them how long you've been in that particular status.
• Third-party app activity monitoring: Your employers can't readily monitor your activity on third-party software, such as Slack and WhatsApp.
• Screen sharing history: Your boss can only see what you shared on your screen during a meeting if the session was recorded.
• Other apps on your device: Microsoft Teams isn't a tracking device. Your boss can't spy on other apps on your device that are not linked to Microsoft Teams. (Unless you want them to!).

What Can I Do to Prevent My Boss from Accessing My Data on Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams allows your employer to access most of your activity on the platform to ensure efficient workflow, accountability, and productivity. So, you can do little to hide your Teams data and activity from your boss. The only legal option is to keep personal information and discussions unrelated to work off the platform. For instance, if you want to share confidential information or a joke with a colleague, you can minimise your Teams app and use another messaging platform.

Bottom Line

Microsoft Teams’ business plans are designed for workplace use. Hence, everything you share or do on your company’s workspace is expected to be relevant to your business and subject to your employer's scrutiny. Still, many companies in the U.K. respect their employees’ privacy and don't monitor private Teams chats and calls unless necessary.

If you feel tempted to use Microsoft Teams for your personal activities, you can subscribe to one of its personal plans. 

Check out the current price of Microsoft Teams here.

References

• Can My Employer View My Microsoft Teams Chat History?
• Data protection, surveillance and privacy at work: UK employment law

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