How to protect yourself from online harassment

Anyone can become a victim of technology-facilitated harassment and violence. There are steps you can take to help protect yourself online.

Check your digit footprint. By knowing what information publicly exists about you online, you can take steps to remove it if necessary. It is important to not have your personal information unnecessarily accessible.

Where to Look in the Public Domain about Yourself

• Canada 411: Address, phone number.
• Google search.
• who.is: Find out who a domain is registered to (including IP address, address, name, phone number, email address).
• Use info from above to search further, including social media sites.
• Photos found can be run through reserve image search. You may find various sites that are holding images of you; images may direct them to other social media accounts not listed by your name; photos can also include location it was taken, date, device it was taken on, which stays in the file when you sent it via text or email.
• IP address (like a digital signature): Provides a rough geographic location, city and sometimes the postal code the device is located in.
• Data broker websites (Spokeo, Geig, Epsilon, etc.): Collects and posts information about you such as previous addresses, detailed family trees, etc.
• Dead links (i.e. the Wayback Machine): Periodically saves and archives webpages. You can search back to certain dates for what a site looked like then.

Note: Could be useful to have someone else look for you since you would need to log out of everything and you know where your info is.

Tips to Keep Your Personal Information Safe

• Google your name: It can be surprising to discover how much of your private information is freely available and indexed by search engines. Signing up for Google alerts can allow you to stay up to date with what is online about you. If you do find information that you are not conformable being public, many platforms do have mechanisms to remove content. 
• Do not share personal contact information: Do not disclose your personal email, phone number, address on online platforms media and never provide it to people you do not know. 
• Use site-based tools: Facebook has search controls in place to prevent people from searching you.  Disabling the search function allows you to control who can find you online.
• Do not accept stranger requests: If you receive friend or follower requests, do not accept it. Most platforms have mechanisms in place to allow you to block users.
• Check your privacy settings: The content you upload onto a social media platform is not necessarily secure. It is important to understand how to take advantage of privacy settings. The following provides information on adjusting privacy settings on various platforms.

Privacy Settings by Platform

• Facebook: Basic Privacy Settings and Tools
• Twitter: How to Protect and Unprotect Your Tweet
• LinkedIn: Understanding Your Privacy Setting
• Pinterest: Edit Account Privacy
• Instagram: Privacy and Safety
• YouTube: Protecting Your Identity
• Snapchat: Privacy Policy
• Whatsapp: Privacy
• Tumblr: Privacy Options

Further Tips

• Use strong passwords that are different for all accounts.
• Use two-factor authentication on all platforms that support it.
• Ensure your computer has up-to-date malware detection software.
• Exercise caution with public computers: Never save your login information on public computers and ensure that you log out completely even when leaving a computer for just a short duration. Ensure that you disable all features that save passwords and delete your temporary internet files and viewing history. Avoid entering any sensitive information into a public computer including your address, credit cards and financial details.
• Avoid linking social media profiles: You may be able to limit the scope of incidents of technology-facilitated harassment and violence by preventing people for linking your online presence on various platforms. If you have a unique name, avoid using the full name in your social media platforms. Also avoid using the same profile picture and email across multiple platforms.  
• Beware of ‘hidden’ information that reveals location: There are a variety of ways your location can be determined by your online activity. Your IP address can reveal you location and thousands of apps use location tracking services, including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn and Whatsapp. To hide your IP address you can use a Virtual Private Network. You can also be tracked through the photos, which are often atomically geotagged, you post online. If you do not wish to have your photos geotagged on most cameras or camera apps this can be disabled. Consult with the manufactured of your device or app to determine for specific instructions for disabling geotagging.
• Video calls: End-to-end encryption should be turned on for your computer and phone. Make sure there is no identifiable information showing in your back ground.
• Data brokers: You can submit a form to have your info removed from their sites.
• Delete obsolete email and social media accounts.
• Don’t use the "Sign In with Google" on other platforms.
• If you register a personal website, use a real address other than your home or personal office.