Should I keep my ex-employer's data?
- by Jurily
Following my brief reign as System Monkey, I am now faced with a dilemma:
I did successfully create a backup and a test VM, both on my laptop, as no computer at work had enough free disk space. I didn't delete the backup yet, as it's still the only one of its kind in the company's history. The original is running on a hard drive in continuous use since 2006. There is now only one person left at the company, who knows what a backup is, and they're unlikely to hire someone else, for reasons very closely related to my departure.
Last time I tried to talk to them about the importance of backups, they thought I was threatening them.
Should I keep it?
Pros:
I get to save people from their own stupidity (the unofficial sysadmin motto, as far as I know)
I get to say "I told you so" when they come begging for help, and feel good about it
I get to say nice things about myself on my next job interview
Nice clean conscience
Bonus rep with the appropriate deities
Cons:
Legal problems: even if I do help them out with it, they might just sue me for keeping it anyway, although given the circumstances I think I have a good case
Legal problems: given the nature of the job and their security, if something leaks, I'm a likely target for retaliation
Legal problems: whatever else I didn't think about
I need more space for porn.
Legal problems.
What would you do?
