Gmail and aliases, non-baiting.

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Master Baiter Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 123

Hi all, I know there is some internet gurus here and I can't find a definitive answer by googling, it's this..

My wife has a personal gmail account for just normal stuff, her boss added 2 work email addresses as aliases to this account with her permission, she changed her gmail password on their recommendation. All 3 email addys now come into the same inbox.

Wifey can sign into her normal gmail account but was not given any password to the 2 wife@workplace ones... no need I suppose they all land in her gmail box.

Finally at the question, can the work place log in and read the 2 aliases or are aliases just extra names with no real inbox? I think this make sense, sort of Confused

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 11:45 am

There's 2 ways of doing it, but the new addresses will be fully functioning email addresses in their own right, so they probably could log in and check them if they wanted (depending on how they set it up).

The first way is by setting up forwarding on the new accounts and the other is to use the old account to poll the new ones using POP3.

I've never used forwarding, so can't say whether it leaves a copy on the original and with POP3 you get a choice whether to leave mails on the server.

Master Baiter Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 123

Thanks for that, the 'fully functioning email addresses in their own right' is what concerns her.
cheers

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 7:23 pm

Never assume any email is private - the design of SMTP means all email hops from server to server in clear text, any one of those servers can read, copy, spoof, tamper with any of those emails.

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 9:05 pm

B8er: I'm pretty sure there is an option to keep the original or delete it so far as forwarding.

EDIT: @dire straits: I think these two links will help you understand it:

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12096?hl=en
https://support.google.com/a/answer/33327?hl=en
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-alias-and-forwarding-in-gmail/

From I've read further, it appears that all the emails sent to those aliases go to your wife's personal GMail account. And it sounds like your wife changed the password and the bosses know the password.

Basically--her bosses have access to her personal email account and can access it at any time. THey have to log into your wife's personal email accoungt to see what was delivered via alias.

I don't know how much your wife trusts her bosses, but I woulld never do anything like that.

If my bosses asked, I'd tell them to fuck off.

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 9:22 pm

I want to add instead of editing again:

An alias is basically just that--an alias. It goes into the primary account (your wife's personal Gmail account). Aliases are not separate account.

They can only check those alias emails if they log into the primary account (your wife's).

Since your wife changed her password at their "recommendation," they know her password. They will be able to log into her primary account and see every personal email she has sent and received, as well as her search history.

Unless they had her set it up to forward the emails to a different account (i..e, they set up a special account to receive those forwards).

I don't like this.

Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 9:40 pm

I'm with Dwatina here, something doesn't seem right about this and there is no reason for her bosses to add aliases to her personal email. I know that the company I work for would never, ever allow having work emails come through a personal email account for security reasons.

Now if they set up separate email accounts and set them to forward to her personal account, that is a different matter (though still no less stupid on their part). If I were her, I would change the password on the personal email account again and if the bosses complain, tell them to stick it where the sun don't shine since it would prove that they are reading her personal emails (or set up a new account for personal emails and delete anything of a personal nature on the account that her job has just hijacked).

Master Baiter Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 123

@ dwatina
Thanks for the replies, what I meant but didn't explain properly is that after the alias adding procedure the boss recommended her to change her password which she did at home in private so hopefully all's good.
many thanks
ETA @ orangecat, yes she has made another strictly private email addy this afternoon just in case.. at this rate she will have nearly as many as me Wink

Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 9:24 am

I have to go with Dwatina and OrangeCat on this-sound to me like the bosses don't want her checking and using her personal email on company time. So they insist on an indirect form of hijack. It's not unusual to have a business account forwarded to a personal account, but this format is weird.

Good thing your wife has a private gmail

Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 10:33 am

My company requests the opposite. They ask that I do not conduct any personal business using my Work E-mail and that I do not conduct any Work related things using my personal E-mail.

The reason is if I make any statements to a family member that is negative about the company, it can be used by the governing agency in court. (In my case the FDA) If my personal account is never used for business then the FDA cannot access for investigative purposes and anything I should write to a family member is my own private business.

Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 5:52 pm

I have to agree to keep personal and business emails separate. I don't understand the bosses reasons for doing this, just seems odd. I am unsure how business g-mail works (which I guess that's what your wife's company has? Google Docs? (I have no clue of the name)) , but I know with Exchange Server on Office 365, the administrator doesn't have to log into her account, he can read whatever he wants from the administrative portal. If the two other emails are going to her personal one, then they "may" have access to her personal account as well. If I remember correctly, an alias does not have it's own inbox, it's inbox is sent to the email address it is assigned to. I have set up an alias for my SQL Server in Exchange, if there is a problem with my SQL Server, I am alerted in my main business email account. It's a way to do it so I don't have to buy another email account just for a server. (YAY! I saved 2 bucks a month!!) Sometimes people do this for "[email protected]" or "[email protected]" and just have that go to a designated email account, that way you don't have to set up an extra email account for rarely used accounts.

So, tell your wife to tell her boss to separate personal and business. Have her tell her boss "It's nothing personal, it's business" Razz

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