Preventing Online Stalking
The internet creates certain risks, but they don’t have to keep you from using technology.
The internet has opened up more ways for us for interpersonal communication. This can be a great gift. We can maintain friendships across the globe, keep our family members involved in our lives and work wherever we please. But as with anything else, there is dark side.
Free and open communication doesn’t come without risk. For example, the ease of locating and contacting someone online can make people vulnerable. With just a little searching it’s relatively easy to learn about someone’s daily life and habits. So what you might think? But if someone is trying to impersonate you for fraudulent reasons that information can be very useful.
Tech Tracks
Occasionally malicious activity is performed by a stalker or criminal, but more often it’s someone with a grudge, such as an ex-partner or estranged family member. NGO Chayn wrote: “If someone is really determined to find you, it isn’t very difficult to track you down. This is especially true if they are an abusive partner. Whether using real-life methods or tracing you utilizing technology, it is always possible for someone to find you with very little effort.”
As in the offline world, women are usually most at-risk for this kind of mistreatment. Women are more likely to find themselves the victims of domestic violence at the hands of acquaintances. Unfortunately, once they realize someone is using their online life against them, it is too late. Then the temptation is to go completely tech free: to delete all social media accounts so they are not at risk. But this type of extreme reaction is not necessary.
Taking preventative measures like the ones below can keep you and your loved ones safer:
Protect Your Browsing
Whether you know it or not, most browsers are collecting data about what you’re visiting and where you’re surfing. If this got into the hands of the wrong person (i.e. an abuser) it could tell them a lot about your plans and your life. You can prevent this by enabling a “do not track” option that all major browsers offer. In addition, frequently clearing your browser history is a good habit to get into.
If you feel someone you live with or who has access to your computer could be looking into your history, be sure to clear your history after each session. Another preventative measure is to turn on a VPN (virtual private network) when you’re surfing. This will encrypt all your traffic so nobody, no matter their location or proximity, can know what you’re doing or locate your IP address.
Stay Mindful On Social Media
Social media is the place that people can find themselves as victims, as users often misjudge the extent to which their frequent posts can give bad actors a window into their lives. Perform frequent privacy checkups to make sure you know who can see your posts. Don’t set your profile to public, and block people who you feel might put you at risk.
Another important step is to log out of your accounts when they’re not in use and to disable a location tag from being sent out with your posts. Finally, make sure your settings require personal information for your account password to be reset and, better yet, enable two factor authentication wherever possible.
Password Maintenance
Passwords are the most vulnerable aspect of a person’s online security, specifically if someone gets into the hub of your online life (such as your email) which can essentially lead them to everything else. The most basic way to protect yourself is to make complicated, unique passwords for each of your accounts. It’s best if these are more like phrases rather than words, complete with numbers and characters—the more random the better.
While it can be hard to remember complicated passwords, storing them elsewhere on your computer (or even written-down, where an abuser could find it) isn’t safe. Instead, use a password manager that encrypts all your passwords behind a “master password,” so you only have to remember one.
We need to take steps to protect ourselves. It’s common sense really and with some care and attention our profiles can be protected. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t leave our homes without checking the doors and windows are shut. So basic internet security is the same approach. It’s not a big deal, just a good habit.