What can my employer see on Microsoft Teams?
What can my employer see on Microsoft Teams? Is Microsoft Teams spying on you? Can employer see Teams messages?
All users’ interactions on Microsoft Teams are logged. Whatever activity you do in Teams is logged. And these logs are then used to generate reports on Teams user activity for a specified period of time. So, assume that your employer can see your activities on Microsoft Teams.
What can my employer see on Microsoft Teams? – Teams user activity report
Your boss can monitor your user activity on MS Teams. Your boss can create or request for a report to view your Teams usage history.
The Teams user activity report can contain any of the following fields (columns). Some of the fields can be switched off, if they are not needed on the report.
Each column displays the totals for that field for that user, and for the report period (7 days, 30 days etc.)
- Display name
- Channel messages
- Reply messages
- Post messages
- Chat messages
- Urgent messages
- Meetings organized scheduled onetime
- Meetings organized scheduled recurring
- Ad-hoc meetings organized
- Total meetings organized
- Meetings participated scheduled onetime
- Meetings participated scheduled recurring
- Ad-hoc meetings participated
- Total meetings participated
- 1:1 Calls
- Audio time
- Video time
- Screen sharing time
- Last activity (UTC)
- Other activity
Microsoft Teams spying
Microsoft Teams is no doubt helping many companies offer remote working for many of their employees. But Does Microsoft Teams spy on you?
Unlike being in a physical office where corridor conversions remain private, when you have chats in Microsoft Teams, these are saved on OneDrive as a means of keeping a record and can be looked at later.
The Teams user activity report gives insight into the types of activities that users in your company do in Teams.
- You can see how many users communicate on an unplanned basis through unscheduled meetings (1:1 and group calls).
- See how many meetings a Teams user has organized, and meetings a Teams user has participated in.
- See details about:
- Screen, video, and audio minutes,
- Chat communication statistics, such as how many users reply to and post channel messages,
- and how many users engage in 1:1 or group chat messages.
With any information gathered it depends on how it is used. The same data can be deemed spying data if it’s used against the employees or can be seen on a positive note.
The positive note being to inform the business how MS Teams is being used and what to do next in light of this information.
Are Microsoft Teams calls recorded automatically?
Microsoft Teams calls can be recorded automatically for a user that has an administrative policy set up and applied.
Policy-based recording enables organizations that use Microsoft Teams for calling and meetings to state, using an administrative policy, when calls and online meetings should be automatically recorded and captured for subsequent processing and retention as required by relevant corporate or regulatory policy.
Teams’ interaction recording overview
Interaction recording use cases can effectively be separated into four primary categories of recording functionality – Convenience, Functional, Organizational, and Lawful Intercept, as shown in the image:
LEA meaning Law Enforcement Administration
Each of the categories entails different requirements for how recordings are started, what is recorded, where recordings are stored, who is notified, who controls access, and how retention is handled.
| Type | Convenience (Regular Teams Recording) | Org – Regulated (Compliance Recording) |
|---|---|---|
| Initiator | User | Admin (system) |
| Target | Per-call / meeting | Per-user |
| Storage owner | User | Compliance |
| Notification required? | Yes | Yes |
| Access Owner | User | Compliance |
| Retention Policy? | Optional | Yes |
MS Teams provides various capabilities for convenient and functional recording of meetings and live events. Organizational recording means enabling organizations that adopt Teams for calling and meetings to stipulate, by way of an administrative policy, when calls and online meetings should be automatically recorded and captured for subsequent processing and retention as required by relevant corporate or regulatory policy.
Users under this policy will be aware that their digital interactions with Teams are being recorded but will not be able to disable the recording and will not have access to the recording once the interaction is complete.
The recording becomes part of the organizational archive available to compliance and legal personnel for eDiscovery, legal hold, and other corporate retention uses.
Example user needs
| Persona | Needs |
|---|---|
| Recorded users | To be notified when recording is in progress. Be informed when policy and/or recorder error is causing changes in calling behavior. |
| Communications admin | Understand why and how to apply / enforce recording policies to Teams users / endpoints. Configure and maintain Teams recording policies for the organization. Monitor and troubleshoot recording-related issues with Teams calls and meetings. Support internal compliance officers with operational analytics on usage, quality, and reliability. |
| Compliance officer | Collect all Teams communications in the manner required to meet compliance obligations in appropriate regional boundaries. Search for interactions based on communication-related metadata or interaction content. Common examples include: Metadata – Participants, time, direction, dialed number, origin number, Custom business data Content – Transcription, sentiment, phonetics, related interactions Analyze and interact with collected communications, including the ability to monitor interactions as they are being collected. Ensure security of collected communications and prevent tampering at all stages. |
Click link For More information about Microsoft Teams policy-based recording for Calls & Meetings
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-recording-policy
Can Microsoft Teams calls be monitored?
It’s important to remember that whatever you do in Microsoft Teams leaves a footprint, enabling a report to be generated if and when needed.
Can employer read Microsoft Teams messages
Can my boss see my Teams messages?
Yes, your employers can read Microsoft Teams messages if needed as part of a review.
Employers can use eDiscovery features in Microsoft 365 / Office 365. Depending on your company’s settings, messages can be kept for several years (or indefinitely).
Admins running a content search can choose to include Teams messages from your account, including anything matching specific keywords. An investigation may require information related to a specific case; So, a list of users, keywords, and dates to scope the search will be provided and relevant information would be returned from search.
What can my employer see on Microsoft Teams? – Conclusion
Assume that all your interactions are recorded in Microsoft Teams and someone can retrieve it if needed.
FAQs
What can employers track on Microsoft Teams?
With Microsoft Teams, employers can track employee activity, communication, productivity, and other key performance indicators.
Employers can keep track of employee communication, like who has contacted whom, when the communication occurred, and what was discussed.
Because MS Teams is an integration of core Microsoft 365 (Office 365) services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint and OneDrive and Video Voice calls, all activities are logged and as such are available for analysis.
Employers can see what their employees are doing to help meet business-defined targets and equally help to investigate why targets are not being met.
Can Microsoft Teams be monitored by employer?
Yes, Microsoft Teams can be monitored by the employer. It is important to be aware that every action done on Microsoft 365 APPs (and Microsoft Teams is one such App) is logged and these activity logs can be used to create a report.
These reports can be used by employers to monitor how their employees are contributing to the company’s success or lack thereof.
Related Posts:
- Installing Microsoft Teams on laptop
- Uninstall Microsoft Teams: Master the Uninstallation Process Today
Further reading – follow links below.
Monitor usage and feedback in Microsoft Teams
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/get-started-with-teams-monitor-usage-and-feedback
Use Activity reports for Microsoft Teams
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-activity-reports
Microsoft Teams user activity report
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-analytics-and-reports/user-activity-report
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- Microsoft 365 Business Premium vs E3 Office 365 Enterprise Comparison
- Microsoft 365 for Small Business UK
- Microsoft Teams Web app
- How to Set Up a Teams Meeting: Top Tips for Beginners and Experts
