INTERNET & COMPUTER SAFETY
Warning:
Email is not a safe or confidential way to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life. If you are in an abusive situation, please call us instead. Use a payphone outside your house, or call our 800 number, which will not appear on your phone bill: (800) 884-8119.
An abuser can discover your Internet and computer 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 activities - anyone can do it and there are many ways to monitor.
How to Stay Safe on the Computer if You Live with an Abuser
If an abuser can access your computer, they can find out what websites you have visited, what documents you have edited, what email you have sent, etc. Follow the steps below to remove these traces. Even better, use a friend's computer, a computer at work, or one at the library instead of your home computer. Be aware that it is impossible to delete or clear all traces of what you've been doing on a computer! These directions can help you to be safer, but they are not guarantees!
For additional protection: There are various applications, such as iBackup and Hyperoffice, now available that are used through a web browser and therefore don't store data on the computer you are using. These are very convenient if you are using someone else's computer and safer to use from your home computer.
Tips on Internet and Computer Safety:
If you must use your computer at home and your abuser lives with you:
- Do not store passwords, as it makes it extremely easy for the abuser to access information.
- Choose passwords that are not easy to guess, such as a random combination of letters and numbers. In addition, change your password often.
- Keep all personal files on a disk and set options to require a password to access each and every file, or (even better) you can now store your files on the Internet and use them from any computer. Some of the companies that offer this are iBackup and Hyperoffice. This means that your files are not stored on your computer's hard drive at all. However, this means you must be certain to clear your computer's history of what webpages, etc. you have visited. There are instructions on how to do that below.
- Empty the "Recycle Bin" before shutting down the computer. The Recycle/Trash Bin holds all deleted files until it is manually emptied. Until it is manually emptied, the abuser will be able to see files that have been deleted, since they have not permanently left the computer. Emptying the Recycle Bin deletes all items from sight.
Email Safety
- E-mail programs like Outlook Express, Netscape Mail, and Eudora can be accessed by an abuser if they have physical access to your computer. They will be able to read your incoming and outgoing mail.
- A better approach is to use a web-based email service. Many websites, such as Google, Yahoo, and Geocities, offer web-based email for free. You can access your email from any computer that has Internet access and no information is stored on that computer. Some other good web-based email services are Hotmail, and Excite Mail.
- If you are not living with your abuser and you receive harassing emails from an abuser or stalker, print them out and save them as evidence.
- Delete emails from the "Send" box (sometimes called the "Outbox") and then also delete the email from the "Deleted Items" box.
Documents on Your Computer
Be sure NOT to store documents that you don't want seen on a computer that your abuser has access to (use an Internet service to store documents). If you use a computer to edit confidential documents be sure to:
- Clear Document History on Applications Like Microsoft Word and Excel. These applications keep a history of the most recent documents opened. You can see them at the bottom of the File menu. The easiest way to clear this history is to open several innocuous documents so that the confidential document names are pushed off the menu - but make sure they are OFF the menu! Another way to do this is to click on the Tools menu, click on Options or Preferences, click on the General tab of the dialog box that comes up, then click the Clear History button.
- Empty your Recycle/Trash bin.
How to Clear Your Computer's History
Browsers like Netscape, Internet Explorer, and AOL are designed to leave traces behind indicating where you've been on the Internet. If an abuser knows how to read your computer's history or cache file (automatically saved web pages and graphics), he or she may be able to see information you have viewed recently on the Internet. When using web-browsers, these steps can reduce the list of websites users have visited. They include erasing the memory cache, the history and the location bar list.
Different versions of browsers can be slightly different, but in any case, what you need to do is reduce your CACHE (or "temporary files") and HISTORY list.
The directions are as follows:
For Netscape Navigator
1. Click on the EDIT menu; choose PREFERENCES; choose ADVANCED; then choose CACHE. Click on both "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache". Then hit OK.
2. Click on the EDIT menu; choose PREFERENCES; then choose NAVIGATOR. A "Clear History" button will appear, then choose OK.
3. Click on the EDIT menu; choose PREFERENCES; then choose NAVIGATOR, click on the "Clear Location Bar" button the bottom of the window, then choose OK.
For Internet Explorer
1. For version 6.x, click on the TOOLS menu; choose INTERNET OPTIONS; then choose the GENERAL tab at the top.
2. In the section called "Temporary Internet Files", click on "DELETE FILES" to clear your cache.
3. On the same screen, in the section called "History", press the CLEAR HISTORY button to erase your history list.
Macintosh Users
Users of version 4.x on Apple Macintosh can delete the history by clicking the HARD DRIVE icon, SYSTEM, PREFERENCES, EXPLORER, and moving the history file into the trash.
Users of version 3.x or lower can delete their history by clicking VIEW, OPTIONS, open the ADVANCED tab, click the SETTINGS tab, and click the "Empty Folder" button.
When using Internet Explorer, there is a function that will complete a partial web address automatically, giving the abuser the entire address the victim has visited. This option can be found and changed on the MS Internet Explorer page by clicking on the TOOLS menu at the top, then INTERNET OPTIONS and the ADVANCED tab. About halfway down there is a "USE AUTOCOMPLETE" box that can be checked and unchecked by clicking on it. Make sure it is NOT checked.
For AOL
Pull down SETTINGS menu; select INTERNET PROPERTIES. Then select CLEAR HISTORY.
Remember that erasing these lists is not infallible; a computer expert may still be able to trace any websites that were visited. Still, these precautionary steps will help cover the user's tracks and decrease the likelihood of discovery.
After you have cleared your cache, you may want to visit other sites that you think your partner would NOT object to; that way, the missing information is less likely to be noticed.
