Printing private letter at work

longwalks1

I need to print a private letter off and dont have access at home. I can print at work but its through a server I think, you click 'print', then swipe into a local printer with your personal swipe card to retrieve it.

Will that process see the actual content of the letter ,or just the document name (eg: letter.doc)

Thank you

duchy

Depends on the software - Personally I wouldn't risk it if it was personal.

Why not pop into your local library and print it there instead. Most will give non members a free ten minutes and charge 10p to print a sheet ....... or join -it's free . You can also join in the area you work in if it's a different council with proof of where you work in most cases.

Strider590

Depends whether they keep the files afterwards for paranoia/monitoring purposes. With swipe cards to use printers, I would say you work for the sort that might do this.

PasturesNew

Technically it could be used against you as a "theft" claim that'd get you sacked and have problems in the future. So it depends on the office culture and your work history if you want to take that risk.

Libraries print out stuff for 50p-£1 a sheet (depending on black/white or colour), or a local digital photocopying company on a High Street location will have facilities to print to the digital photocopier from a USB stick/similar.

I, too, don't have a printer, so I know how annoying it is on that one day every 2-3 years when you do need to print something out.

agrinnall

We use swipe card access to printers at work, the printer shows the file name and number of pages but no content, but whether the server that has sent the file to the printer retains a copy of the file that can be examined I don't know (and don't care as I only print work documents at work).

It's unlikely that anyone would ever know that you're printed a private document but if there's an accessible alternative such as the library I would probably use that.

McKneff

Print it at the library....

macman

Ask your line manager if you can print it?

Strider590

macman wrote: »

Ask your line manager if you can print it?

It's the obvious and most sensible answer, BUT if the culture is poor/toxic, then after asking the word will get out that you use the works printers for personal use and even if you never do it again, that mud can stick.

InsideInsurance

In theory the print server could be retaining a copy of what is sent to it and so yes someone with the right access could reproduce a copy of the document. If they are actually doing this or not can only be answered by your IT department.

Assuming your ID card system works the same as others I've seen elsewhere then no lay user will be able to see anything.

audigex

1) Ask permission
2) Don't print anything you wouldn't want your boss to see (application for another company etc)

Most companies are fine with a sensible amount of personal printing on occasion, but it depends on the culture.

Chances are, though, that nobody will ever look at it anyway.... think about how much actually gets printed, then think about the chances anyone's going to spend hours trawling through it? I could probably access the print jobs at work if I wanted to, but I've definitely got better things to do with my day! (Like reply on MSE)

paddyrg

Go down to IT, and ask if they have a printer you can print a personal letter from - offer them a cup of tea and they'll be only too pleased to help ;-)