My employer has blocked Grindr on their WiFI network

[Boy4]

They have predators in the VP ranks but consider a dating app a threat... go figure.

[craigville beach]

it is their network. it is called work for a reason.

[+ FrankR]

They have predators in the VP ranks but consider a dating app a threat... go figure.

I would never be comfortable using my employer’s wifi for Grindr... That is why I pay T-Mobile for an ‘all you can eat’ data plan! ?

[bostonman]

it is their network. it is called work for a reason.

 

Indeed - I don't think it's uncommon for businesses to block adult sites - and even more specifically, in venues where children may be.

 

Funny story, though - shorty after the demise of the Cragigslist personals, with the advent of SESTA/FOSTA, I was at one of my jobs, tried to log in on my phone to one of the sites I follow (can't remember which) and got an error message. My instinct was to panic, thinking that that site had also just been targeted. But then I realized it was simply being blocked by the business' wifi, as it always would have been. I guess I had just never tried to use that site with that wifi before.

[JayCeeKy]

Why in the world would you expect your employer to permit access to dating sites?

[bostonman]

Why in the world would you expect your employer to permit access to dating sites?

 

I think that's easy. Most of us don't think about the context of where we are most of the time - we just tend to think that the web is accessible, period. Same for phone apps. We don't expect things to be blocked, even if they are sites we normally wouldn't tend to use at work. I don't think that's all that strange.

[Mr.E]

Whoever owns the network has access to all the traffic on it. That means they can see the sites you visit. It may be a good thing for you that they blocked it.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

it is their network. it is called work for a reason.

 

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[bostonman]

[MEDIA=giphy]3oriOdQbqRC0VtKWMU[/MEDIA]

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

 

Was it serendipity that I hoped you would post this as a response and did?

[JayCeeKy]

I think that's easy. Most of us don't think about the context of where we are most of the time - we just tend to think that the web is accessible, period. Same for phone apps. We don't expect things to be blocked, even if they are sites we normally wouldn't tend to use at work. I don't think that's all that strange.

Bostonman - I was not referring to you but to Boy4 who seems amazed that an employer would block these types of sites.

 

I was supervisor at a large health company and, even though it was not easy due to privacy rules (I had to justify my concerns with headquarters), I was able to obtain a printout of every site that a particular employee had visited during a designated period (an employee had accused this employee of spending a lot of time surfing porn sites). As Mr.E states, a company can legally monitor all of your activities on their network.

[bostonman]

Was it serendipity that I hoped you would post this as a response and did?

 

You know me too well, sir...

[bostonman]

Bostonman - I was not referring to you but to Boy4 who seems amazed that an employer would block these types of sites.

 

Oh, I know - but I was answering generally.

[EZEtoGRU]

They have predators in the VP ranks but consider a dating app a threat... go figure.

Ok...Let’s pretend Grindr is a dating app:rolleyes:. Why are you spending time on a “dating app” when you’re supposed to be...err...working?

[rvwnsd]

...I was at one of my jobs, tried to log in on my phone to one of the sites I follow (can't remember which) and got an error message... it was simply being blocked by the business' wifi, as it always would have been. I guess I had just never tried to use that site with that wifi before.

Something similar happened to me when I bought my current phone. I forgot to "forget" my work's wifi network and the phone tried to connect to it. Fortunately, the "guest password" pop-up displayed first and so it did not try connecting over the employee wifi network. Now it uses my trusty Verizon data plan by default.

[+ StLouisOct]

Well

I think that's easy. Most of us don't think about the context of where we are most of the time - we just tend to think that the web is accessible, period. Same for phone apps. We don't expect things to be blocked, even if they are sites we normally wouldn't tend to use at work. I don't think that's all that strange.

Uh, yeah, but like the real world still exists and what some people think should exist isn’t how it works and LOTS of employers would fire a person regardless of the fact that they don’t expect anything to be blocked. Best to be realistic, rather than unemployed.

[hypothetically]

They have predators in the VP ranks but consider a dating app a threat... go figure.

 

Totally irrelevant to you using company time to look for penis on your phone lol.

[Walker1]

I have never tried grindr or any other adult site at work. My palces blocks many other sites-anything deemed controversial is blocked. The company internet is for company business.

[Guest]

Yikes. I'd never visit an adult site at work, even a place such as this. Though I must confess I've made hotel reservations while at work.

[instudiocity]

That’s why my iPhone is on vpn, 24/7.

[rvwnsd]

Bostonman - I was not referring to you but to Boy4 who seems amazed that an employer would block these types of sites.

 

I was supervisor at a large health company and, even though it was not easy due to privacy rules (I had to justify my concerns with headquarters), I was able to obtain a printout of every site that a particular employee had visited during a designated period (an employee had accused this employee of spending a lot of time surfing porn sites). As Mr.E states, a company can legally monitor all of your activities on their network.

It is interesting that you mention privacy rules because before reaching the computer's login page every employee at my company has to acknowledge their understanding that they should not assume their computer or Internet usage is private. Just to make sure we don't randomly click through the page Info Security will rearrange the "Yes" and "No" buttons. Clicking "No" boots the user out of the login process, which requires a power-down and re-start to try again.

 

T...Now, I think what @Boy4 is referring to is instead the access to WiFi on the external side of the firewall which is likely less restricted. Nonetheless, I’m guessing that Grindr is in a class (likely self identified and tagged) that is filtered completely..,it may even include tindr and eharmony, etc...it more a “netnanny” thing than it is a political statement...

Speaking only for my employer and for vendors whose sites I've visited, the wifi is typically behind the firewall and for use by employees and by authorized visitors. Customer-use wifi is often outside of the firewall, but as you stated dating, hookup, adult-themed, and sites whose content is questionable is almost always blocked.

 

A funny anecdote from several years ago comes to mind. When an employee of my company would attempt to reach our sibling and parent company's website we would be blocked from doing so. The reason displayed on screen was "internet porn." This was in the 1990's, before the concept of "white-listing" was widespread.

[samhexum]

[lonely_john]

a dating app

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[Guest]

Where I last worked, even Facebook, twitter, and Instagram were blocked.

[Monarchy79]

Just use your own WiFi.

 

When I used to work at my employer’s physical office location, I wouldn’t do anything personal on their computers or servers. I’d bring my personal laptop to work, using my own WiFi, to check personal emails, look at my bank accounts, track stocks, and shop online.