It's still there. In many cases, a delete folder could be called the 'museum of historical e-mail,' because if people aren't purging it, it's just sitting there. Feldman can find mail even if employees do purge it. It may be inside the computer of the Internet service provider that delivered it, or that of the e-mail recipient. Or it might be inside the employee's building, in the company's master e-mail system.
Some systems even run duplicate tapes of e-mail.
Those backup tapes can hang around for a long time. And this man has written a program that goes one step further. Every single key stroke. Eaton says he's sold 5,000 programs since August of 1998, to customers like Delta Airlines, Exxon, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Mint. While some workers get a warning on their screen that they're being watched, he says most employers prefer the program run covertly.