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DAWN
Canada: DisAbled Women's Network Canada Privacy
& Security Online
Safety
on the Web Always select a gender-neutral username for your email address or for chat, etc. DON'T pick something cute, such as misskitty@someisp.com or use your first name if it is obviously female. Since the majority of online victims are female, this is what harassers look for. Keep your primary email address private. Use your primary email address ONLY for people you know and trust. Get a free email account and use that for all your other online activity. Make sure you select a gender-neutral username that is nothing like anything you've had before. There are many, many free email providers, such as Hotmail at www.hotmail.com, Juno at www.juno.com, Yahoo! at www.yahoo.com and Hushmail www.hushmail.com. We suggest that you do a search using your favorite search engine and choose the email provider that best suits your own needs. DON'T fill out profiles! When you sign up for your email account, whether it's through your ISP (such as AOL or CompuServe), a free one (such as Yahoo!), fill out as little information about yourself as possible. You do NOT need to fill out everything they ask for. When you hit the submit button, you will be told what information is absolutely necessary to get your account opened. The same goes for profiles in IM (Instant Messenger) programs such as ICQ or AOL's IM and chat rooms. Never, ever fill out your profiles, unless you want the whole world to know everything about you. DO block or ignore unwanted users. Whether you are in a chat room or using IM, you should always check out what options/preferences are available to you and take advantage of the "Block all users except those on my buddy list" or adding unwanted usernames to an Ignore list in chat. If anyone bothers you and won't go away, put them on block or ignore! DON'T defend yourself. Yes, this is the most common reaction when someone begins bothering you online. Most people naturally want to defend themselves, but a reaction from you is just what the harasser wants. He or she is "fishing" for someone to latch onto and harass. When you reply to them, whether in a chat room, via IM, email, in newsgroups, message boards or anywhere else online, you're letting them know you're upset. That's exactly what they want - bait and you've become it. No matter how hard it is to do, ignore these people. When they realize they can't bother you, they'll go on to the next chat room, newsgroup, etc and try to find another "fish." Lurk (i.e., read messages and don't respond or post any) on newsgroups, message boards, mailing lists, chat rooms, etc. before "speaking" or posting messages. Watch what you "say" online. When you do participate online, be careful--only type what you would say to someone's face. If you wouldn't say it to a stranger standing next to you in an elevator, why in the world would you "say" it online? Signature Files. If you use a signature file for all your email messages, newsgroup posts, etc, make sure you know what information is in there. Check to be sure you're not giving out your full name, address and phone number. If you must have some or all of that information, see the advice below. Copyright © 1997-2002 WHOA. Get a free fax/voicemail number. If you absolutely must have a contact phone number anywhere online, whether on a web site, in your signature file or in your profile (remember what we said about profiles!), get a free fax/voicemail number from someplace like jFax at www.jfax.com. It's easy to register. You get a free number and can then post it on your web site, put it in your signature file, etc. If someone calls, they'll get a pre-recorded message stating you are unavailable and they can leave a voicemail message. If a fax is sent, it's just like a regular fax machine. You then get notification via email when a voicemail message or fax has arrived and can play the voicemail message through your computer (you need speakers and a sound card for this) or open up the fax and then print it out if you want. WHOA has one - you can get one, too! Get a P.O. Box. If you need a contact mailing address, spend the money and get a P.O. Box in your town or the next town over. It's better to be safe than sorry! Get an unlisted telephone number. Yes, you may have to contact everyone you know that you've changed your phone number, but which is more important - protecting yourself and your family or being listed everywhere? If you're currently listed in the phone book, then anyone can find you online. Go to the The Ultimates White Pages at www.theultimates.com and do a search for your phone number, or do a reverse search with your phone number. If you are listed, you need to contact each and every phone listing web site and find out how to get your name/phone number removed. But remember, next year when the new phone books come out and if you're still listed, you'll go right back up on their sites. Get Caller ID if
you insist on keeping your listed phone number. Then, if someone begins
harassing you online, looks up your listed phone number on the net and
begins Ego Surf. Put your first name and last name in quotes in a search engine such as Yahoo! at www.yahoo.com, Google at www.google.com or Dogpile at www.dogpile.com and see if there are any results regarding you. You just might be surprised at what you find. Also put in the names of your spouse, loved ones and/or children. Remember to put their names in quotes to refine the search results. Better yet, use TracerLock to do it for you on a regular basis - free. Never give your password to anyone, especially if someone sends you an IM (Instant Message). Your ISP will never, ever ask you for your password while you are online or via email. In fact, they shouldn't ever contact you to ask you for your password, period. They can get it from their own records, if they really need it for any reason. If you call them for support, there are a few rather rare instances in which the support person might ask you for your password - but you called them, right? So you know it's really a support person from your ISP that you're talking to. There's no legitimate reason for anyone to ever contact you to ask for your password. Don't provide your
credit card number or other identifying information as proof of age
to access or subscribe to a Web site run by a company you are not familiar
with. Personally monitor children's internet use, even if you have trained them in what information they can and cannot give out. There is no software in the world that can replace the active involvement of a concerned parent. Be very cautious about putting any pictures of yourself or your children online anywhere, or allowing anyone else (relatives, schools, dance academies, sports associations) to publish any photos. Some stalkers become obsessed because of an image. A random email address or screen name is simply much less attractive to most obsessive personalities than a photograph. Copyright © 1997-2002 WHOA.
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