[kogepathic]

> I wouldn't be surprised that with the blurring or work and life boundaries that a significant portion of people on HN have files from a previous employer on their personal computers.

Maybe you do, I don't. Leaving an employer while retaining a copy of their confidential data is IMO a massively unethical thing to do.

I won't speak for others but when I leave an employer I do not take any data with me, not even notebooks. I may take additional notes about things I do outside of work, but I do this on my own time, and ensure that no source code, emails, or other company data is mixed up in those.

I have previously worked with people who kept their entire notebooks from previous employers. While it might help you solve a problem faster, I personally find that practice hugely unethical. You developed these skills on your former employer's time, and either you know the information well enough to do it again from memory, or you should learn it again on your new employers time. Otherwise the new company is unjustly benefiting from the previous company's investment in you.

[yawaworht12]

I didn't say I intentionally keep things from previous employers. I return or delete everything that I know about, but that doesn't mean that I don't occasionally come across stuff that I wasn't aware I was still in possession of from time to time. Oftentimes, it's an archived email, but sometimes it's a file. Blurred work/life boundaries contributes to this happening from time to time.