OVER the years, I've amassed a tidy pile of annual reports, press releases and brochures. They are useful because they provide at-my-fingertips references when I'm reporting on follow-ups for events.

In recent years, this hard copy stash has gone 'soft', that is, they have migrated to the digital world. In my work computer, there are tens of folders holding many more documents that make up my e-library - but only for work.

I make a distinction between work and personal information. On the office computer, never the twain shall meet.

A few digital images taken at the office New Year's party and farewell gatherings for colleagues are fine. But not hundreds of holiday photos, video clips of children's birthday parties and thousands of songs stored on your work computer's hard disk.

The office computer is meant for storing information that is relevant to work. Personal photographs, songs and documents like copies of tax returns and bank statements have no place there.

Employers faced with security and corporate governance issues are clamping down on the unauthorised use of office computers. Already some companies do not allow access to music download sites, online photo galleries or YouTube.

Like it or not, employers have the right to check what's in your computer.

That they don't does not absolve employees of being accountable for storing all their personal information on the office machine.

What if the hard disk crashes? Imagine the embarrassment when the IT department colleague or an IT vendor recovers the job applications you sent off during a bout of work frustration?

True, for many who spend 10 to 12 hour at work, the office becomes a second home. But imagine the trouble when you 'shift house' - retire or leave the company, or 'migrate' to a new computer.

Moving all that 'furniture' - burning personal information like songs, videos and images onto CDs - would take many, many discs and several days.

Ditto for the private e-mail messages you've parked in the office machine.

Porting the private e-mail stuff from the office Inbox to, say, Outlook Express, requires more than minimal effort.

Deleting would be far easier - just select all and send them to the bin. But you'll need a heart of stone for that merciless move.

So, save yourself the hassle and heartache in the first place: Accumulate the personal junk, if you must, on storage devices. USB drives, for instance, now come in 4GB sizes while MP3 players offer over 100GB of storage not only for songs, but also video, documents and photos.

Alternatively, offload everything to cyberspace using anything from Google Docs to Flickr and iPhoto. And for personal e-mail, there's Yahoo! and Gmail.

You never know when an Edison Chen episode can happen.

chngkeg@sph.com.sg

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 29 April 2008.