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E-Mail Tips:

E-mail is not a safe or confidential way to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life; please contact one of the hotlines listed at the right instead. ("Corded" phones are more private than cell phones or cordless phones.)

If an abuser has access to your email account, he or she may be able to read your incoming and outgoing mail. if you believe your account is secure, make sure you choose a password he or she will not be able to guess.

If an abuser sends you threatening or harassing email messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of this abuse. Additionally, the messages may constitute a federal offense. For more information on this issue, contact your local United States Attorney's Office.

 


Erase Your Internet Activities

Your abuser can monitor your use of your computer and the Internet.  If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call 911, the Umbrella 24-hour Crisis Hotline (203-736-9944), your local hotline, or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
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What You Should Know...

1.  Computers create records, in hundreds of ways, of everything you do on the computer and on the Internet.

2.  If you are in danger, please try to use a safer computer where someone abusive does not have direct access, or even remote (hacking) access.

3.  It might be safer to use a computer in a public library, at a community technology center (CTC) www.ctcnet.org (national directory, at a trusted friend's house, or at an Internet cafe.

4.  If you think your activities are being monitored, you are probably right.  Abusers are controlling people 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.

5.  Computers can provide a lot of information about what you look at on the Internet, the e-mails you send, and other activities.  It is not possible to delete or clear all computer "footprints."

6.  If you think you may be monitored on your home computer, you might consider no home Internet use or "safer" Internet surfing.