top of page

Safety Alert:  Please note there is always a computer trail when you go online. CLICK HERE if you need to quickly leave our site. (Can we put some kind of warning graphic near this?)

 

Using modern technology can compromise your safety. So it’s crucial to protect your online activities. Below are some important online safety tips from the Safety Net Project.

 

1) If you think your activities are being monitored, they probably are. Abusive people are often controlling and want to know your every move. You don't need to be a computer programmer or have special skills to monitor someone's computer and Internet activities. Anyone can do it and there are many ways to monitor someone’s digital footprint with programs including Spyware, keystroke loggers, and hacking tools.

​

2) It is not possible to delete or clear all the "footprints" off your computer or online activities. If you are being monitored, it may be dangerous to change your computer behaviors such as suddenly deleting your entire Internet history—if that is not your regular habit.

​

3) If you think you may be monitored on your home computer, be careful how you use your computer since an abuser might become suspicious. You may want to keep using the monitored computer for innocuous activities, like looking up the weather. Use a safer computer to research an escape plan, look for new jobs or apartments, bus tickets, or ask for help.

 

4) Email and Instant/Text Messaging (IM) are not safe or confidential ways to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life. If possible, please call a hotline instead. If you use email or IM, please use a safer computer and an account your abuser does not know about.

​

5) Computers can store a lot of private information about what you look at via the Internet, including emails and instant messages, online purchases and banking activities, internet-based phone and IP-TTY calls you make, and more.

 

6) It might be safer to use a computer in a public library, at a community technology center (CTC), at a trusted friend's house, or an Internet cafe.

iStock-132264642.jpg

Domestic Violence Internet Safety Tips

If you are in immediate danger:

  • Call 911

  • Call your local hotline

  • Call a national hotline

Remember that corded phones are more private and less interceptable than cordless phones or analog cell phones.
 
Be aware you may not be able to reach 911 using an Internet phone or Internet-based phone service. Be prepared to use another phone to call 911.
Contact your local domestic violence program, shelter, or rape crisis center to learn about free cell phone donation programs.

bottom of page