Using technology safely

If you are affected by domestic and family violence, it's important you can keep in touch with your support network—such as friends and family—and keep your personal affairs in order by using technology such as internet banking, email, and social media.

If you are concerned that your partner or a family member is monitoring you by reading your emails, checking your phone calls, or following your movements through social media, there are steps you can take to protect your personal information and increase your security online.

Domestic and family violence isn't just physical abuse.

Some non-physical forms of domestic and family violence include controlling behaviour and stalking. This can include using technology to keep track of where you are, who you talk to, and what you do with your money.

If you are affected by domestic and family violence, it's important that you are able to keep in touch with supports—such as friends and family—and keep your personal affairs in order by using technology such as internet banking, email and social media.

Electronic communication and online behaviour by a partner, family member or someone else you know can be abusive if it makes you feel scared, intimidated or unsafe.

However, if you are concerned that your partner or a family member is monitoring you by reading your emails, checking your phone calls or following your movements through social media, there are steps you can take to protect your personal information and increase your security online.

Esafety Commissioner technology tour

Take the tour and discover new ways to protect yourself and your personal information.

Technology safety planning

Phone calls

Landlines

• If you use a landline and you are concerned someone may try to monitor your calls, dial a different number immediately after your phone call so that your call history can't be tracked. For example, if you call a domestic violence service for advice, after this call dial another number that is frequently called from your landline, like your mobile number.

Mobile phones and smart phones

• If you are using a mobile phone provided by a person who is abusing you, consider turning it off when it's not in use.
• Check the phone settings; if your smartphone has an optional location service, you may want to switch the location feature off/on via the phone settings menu to support keeping your location private.
• Calls made and received on your mobile phone can be removed from the device by deleting them from the call log. In most phones the call log can be found via the 'Settings' menu.
• Where you want to keep your call information private, consider using a prepaid phone card so you won't get numbers listed on your telephone bill.
• Make sure you use a pin code or pattern lock to password protect access to your mobile phone.
• Set your device to time out and lock after a few minutes of inactivity.
• Remember to also delete any text messages that you don't want to share. Consider taking a screenshot of any abusive texts and emailing them to a safe private email account for future reference and evidence collection.
• It is important that you are aware abusers can access information through shared apps, cloud devices and smartphones. You may want to think about accessing a second, safe phone and leaving your other phone at home if you think you are being monitored.

Online

Online browsing

Online searches and visits to websites can be easily traced in a computer's browser. Spyware software can be used to monitor a person’s computer use. When you visit a webpage, it is recorded in 3 places on your computer’s browser: the cache, history and typed URLs. You can clear these lists temporarily, but you would have to do this every time you use the internet to hide the websites you have visited from other users. It is not possible to delete or hide all of the ‘tracks’ you leave when using a computer. Try to use a safe computer when you are looking for help online or accessing your personal banking or health accounts.

Online accounts

• Use a safe computer to access your online accounts. This could be a family member or friend’s computer, or a computer at your local library or internet café.
• Some internet accounts hold personal information such as your address details and mobile phone number. Consider setting up new online accounts and regularly change your password and login details for online banking, email, Facebook, PayPal, Google, Medicare and eBay.
• It is highly advisable to use different passwords for each of your online accounts.
• Many online accounts will provide a function to remember your login details, or to keep you logged into the account even when you navigate away from the webpage. Always say 'No' to prompts for the computer to remember your details and ensure you log off the account before exiting the site.

Email

• If you are concerned someone may have access to your email account, consider setting up an alternative email account on a safe computer.
• Free web-based accounts such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo are easy to set up and can be accessed from any computer or mobile device.
• Use a non-identifying username, e.g. springtime@email.com, change your password for the account every 3 months, and always ensure you log off before exiting the site.

Social media

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide an easy way for someone to find, track and follow a person. If you are using social media accounts, your privacy settings and the automatic location sharing settings may be putting you at risk.

• Use the privacy settings to control who can see your personal information.
• You can also adjust your account settings to block users who you don’t want to see your profile.
• You may want to consider changing your profile picture from a photo of yourself to a more generic image.
• It is also a good idea to change the password for your account every 3 months.
• If you suspect someone is checking your social media, consider creating an account using an anonymous name and email account.

Mobile devices

Location services, GPS and Bluetooth

Smartphones and mobile devices have a built-in feature that can pinpoint where you are. This information can be published online through social media sites, or used by location-based services such as maps. It can also be saved in images you take with your device. ‘Checking in’ on social media sites lets people know where you are and what you're doing.

• You can switch off location services by going into the settings menu on your phone.
• If you use Bluetooth, you can change the settings so that your phone cannot be ‘found’ by other people’s phones.
• Double check your privacy settings, so that if you do share location information, it’s only accessible to the people you want to see it.

Apps

• Before installing any app for Android or iOS, make sure you view the rights and permissions that the app will have once it is installed on your device. The permissions can include making calls, connecting to the internet, making use of your contact lists or browsing history and sharing your use of the app.
• If you are not comfortable with the permissions the app will have, cancel the installation.

Smartphone tracking and spyware

Most modern mobile phones and mobile devices, including tablets, can be used to track the owner’s location. Tracking and spyware applications can be installed on a mobile phone or device without the owner’s knowledge or consent and use the mobile device’s GPS or Wi-Fi data to relay tracking information to another person. Some applications also remotely monitor additional private information such as calls, texts, emails, websites visited and photos taken using the device.

• Removing or exchanging a SIM card is not enough to prevent tracking as the application may remain on the phone. Having the mobile device turned off will avoid data being sent to another person, but this is not a practical solution and the risk returns if the device is switched back on.
• If in any doubt about your mobile phone or tablet’s security, the safest way to remove such an application is to reset your mobile device from within the settings menu i.e. factory data reset. It is important to backup or write down your contacts first as these will be deleted. Other items such as photos and music which are saved on the internal memory will also be deleted. Items stored on an external (removable) SD card should not be affected by a data reset.

If the security of your mobile device has been compromised

• Turn off the GPS functionality (Location Services) on your phone/device in the ‘Settings’ menu to stop location tracking.
• A factory data reset will restore the device back to its original state. It will delete the internal storage, erase all personal data and settings and will remove all installed applications including any tracking or spyware apps. This option can be accessed through the ‘Settings’ menu for most phones/devices (Android, Windows, Blackberry, iPhone). Apple products can also be restored to the original settings through the iTunes software.
• A factory data reset will also remove contacts and messages. Therefore, you may want to save your contacts to the SIM card, back-up contacts to an SD card or computer, or write important contacts down. For most mobile phones, applications are available to back up contacts and SMS if required. Photos and music can also be backed up to an SD card or computer before resetting the device.
• Check the applications list in your phone/device for any applications that look suspicious and that you didn't install. They're likely to appear in the applications list under an unassuming name such as ‘radio’ app. Uninstall any apps you didn't install.
• Buy an alternative second-hand or inexpensive mobile phone to use until you feel confident that your other phone is not relaying your location and private information.
• Turn off your phone and only use it in an emergency.
• If you experience issues in resetting your mobile phone or mobile device or erasing the storage, content and settings, a mobile phone store should be able to provide assistance.

Your home

Our lives are filled with internet-enabled technology such as CCTV, home alarms, gaming consoles, smart TVs and voice-controlled virtual assistants like Alexa or Google Home. Your car may also contain technology such as GPS navigation systems that can be compromised. Take the tour and discover new ways to protect yourself and your personal information.

Involve your children in eSafety

Caring for your children while dealing with domestic and family violence or online abuse can be very challenging. There are ways to help your children stay connected online while keeping them, and you, safe. You can find steps to support safety for you and your children in eSafety planning.

You can also view the eSafety Commissioner’s technology tour and discover new ways to protect yourself and your personal information.

Safe mobile apps

Daisy is an app developed by 1800RESPECT to connect people experiencing violence or abuse to services in their local area. Daisy can be downloaded for free from iTunes or Google Play. Once the app is on your phone, you can use it to search for support services in your local area. Choose the type of service you would like (for example 'Legal services' or 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services') and select your state or territory to find services near you.

You can visit service websites from within the app, which means these sites won't show up in your browser history. This can help protect your privacy, especially if another person has access to your phone. Each listing includes information about opening times, how to get in touch and the services they offer.

You can download the app here.

Keeping your personal information safe

If you are leaving a relationship or living with violence or abuse, there are things you can do to keep your personal information safe:

• Protect your license information
• Protect your identity if your license has been compromised
• Safe browsing tips - DV connect