Internet and Computer Safety
If you are in danger, please try to use a safer computer that someone abusive
does not have direct or remote (hacking) access to.
American Bar Association
Commission on Domestic Violence
How an abuser can discover your internet activities.
- 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 with programs like Spyware, keystroke loggers and
hacking tools.
- It is not possible to delete or clear all the “footprints" of 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Computers can store a lot of private information about what you look at
via the Internet, the emails and instant messages you send, internet-based
phone and IP-TTY calls you make, web-based purchases and banking, and many
other activities.
- 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 Café.
If you are in danger, please:
- Call 911
- Call your local hotline
- Call a national hotline:
- U.S.
National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or TTY
at 1-800-787-3224
- U.S. National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 automatically
connect you to a local U.S. rape crisis program near your phone number’s
area code.
- U.S. National Teen Dating Violence Helpline at 1-866-331-9474
- 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. So you may need to 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.
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