internet safety

There is a lot of useful information on the internet about domestic violence. It can help you to identify abusive behaviour and get information about ways to stop the violence.

However, if your abuser uses the same computer as you, they may be able to find out what web pages you have been looking at!

The best way to avoid this is to use a different computer – perhaps at a friend’s place, work, an internet cafe or a public library. To keep emails secret, create a new email account and only use this account at a computer that your abuser can’t use.

If you choose to use the home computer, there are steps you can take to make it harder for someone to know what you are doing.

  • Change your login password, and the password on your email account regularly, and make sure it is a password that your abuser can’t guess (it should have letters and numbers in it). Make sure the box that says “remember my password on this computer” is not ticked.
  • When you have finished using email, click the sign out button.
  • Your internet browser keeps a list of sites recently visited, and someone who uses the computer after you can look at this list. The links below give instructions about how to delete the list. You need to delete the list every time you use the internet.

Internet Explorer:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/clearcache.mspx

Opera:
http://www.opera.com/support/tutorials/security/privacy/index.dml

Netscape:
http://members.aol.com/webstlouis/purge.html

Firefox:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/options#privacy

 

 

Someone who is very determined to know what you are doing with your computer could install “spyware” or keylogging software on your computer. This software records everything you have typed and every webpage you have looked at.

Some anti-virus programs protect against spyware, but the best way to protect yourself is use a computer that your abuser cannot use.