PSA: Your boss could be reading your Slack messages. Here’s how to check

Gabrielle Judge explains how employers can use Slack to spy on their employees (Image credit: antiworkgirlboss/Instagram)

A viral video has brought wider public attention to a little-known fact: your employer can read your Slack messages, even the private ones.

According to popular TikTok and Instagram content creator Gabrielle Judge, also known as the “Anti Work Girlboss”, bosses can use workplace communication app Slack to snoop on their employees.

“Absolutely be careful on any messages on Slack or Microsoft Teams. And hopefully you do understand all company emails can be read too. Even drafts!” Judge cautioned in her now-viral video titled ‘How your boss spies on you at work.’

Using Mozilla.org as her source, the TikToker goes on to explain how any Slack admin at an organisation can export messages from public channels. And that’s not all, because your employer can also request access to your private Slack chats.

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Employees can use this link: “[your workspace here].slack.com/account/workspace-settings#retention” to see if their company allows admins to access public and private on Slack.

Judge ends her video with some advice. “Never say or write anything you wouldn’t want everyone else to find out.” However, if you do have a ‘work bestie’ or a colleague you are particularly close to, consider getting your own Slack. You can make a free workspace and control who joins that workspace. This can be used for off-the-record conversations, says Judge.

When The New York Post reached out to Slack for confirmation on whether or not employers have access to their employees’ private chats, the platform said that “an employer’s right to access data is controlled by an employment agreement and applicable laws – not by Slack.”

“Slack is a workplace communication platform. Our data export tools are aligned with the business uses of our product, including compliance obligations and global privacy laws,” it said. “More information can be found in our data export guide.”