Electronic Safety
Technology can be a key tool in helping you find valuble resources, help and support. However, even though it is helpful, technology can also be used to monitor your activities without your consent. Awareness and education are the best methods of avoiding being monitored electronically. Below you will find helpful guides and hints detailing electronic threats and how you can best avoid them when seeking help.
When using the internet
When using a computer to seek help there are many things you must remember even if no one else has access to your machine.
- Clearing Your Internet History and Private Browsing
Remember to follow the guides found HERE to clear your web browsers history and mask future activities if you feel that leaving records of accessing this site on the computer you're using may leave you at risk.
- Passwords
Remember to keep differing, strong passwords on all of the accounts you have online. Passwords should be hard to guess, consist of upper and lower case characters, numbers and special characters. If you must write down your passwords then remember to keep them somewhere safe such as a purse, wallet or other location where they can be monitored often and are not easily found by anyone who could put you at risk.
- Sensitive Information and Social Networking Websites
Avoid posting sensitive or personally identifiable information online. Also, if you access social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter or Myspace then make sure your privacy settings block posts and information from anyone that may put you at risk. Also remember to only add people that you know are safe to your friends list and verify that the people whom request to add you are actually the owners of the account and not someone who could put you at risk posing as a safe contact.
- Instant Messaging (IMing) and Online Games
If you use instant messinging (IM) programs such as Yahoo, Windows Live (MSN), ICQ or Skype or if you play online games that contain a social aspect such as Second Life, IMVU, or World of Warcraft then remember to be safe when speaking with someone before verifying their true identity. Someone who could increase your risk could create an account and pose as a stranger or a safe contact and attempt to add or contact you. Make sure that you somehow verify the identity of the contact, whether this is by establishing a safe word with the contact or by asking them a question that only they would know the answer to. If the person is a stranger then make sure to avoid giving them any personally identifiable or sensitive information that could increase your risk.
If you communicate using E-mail such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail or other e-mail providers then remember to delete any messages that contain sensitive information or information that could put you at risk after you've viewed them. Make sure that you check your junk, draft and sent folders for any messages that may put you at risk as well since some e-mail providers may mistakenly filter messages from agencies and resources into your junk folder. Also avoid opening any e-mails from unknown senders or with suspicious titles. These may contain viruses or remote monitoring programs. If you believe you've mistakenly downloaded a program that is monitoring your computer usage then visit our "When using the computer" guide above to learn how to remove it and secure your computer.