Learn how to delete the history on your browser so your abuser cannot tell you have been to our site
Please note that the only way you can be sure that your abuser cannot track your computer usage is to use a secure public computer. Most librarys and some schools have computers for public use.
While the Internet can provide people with access to useful information and life saving resources, it can also provide batterers with information about their victims' Internet activities and physical whereabouts. Batterers can use the Internet to harass and stalk their vicitms, and they can trace their victims' Internet activities and access their personal email. However, there are steps that people can take to protect themselves in cyberspace.
Email
E-mail is not a safe or confidential way to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life. Traditional "corded" phones are more private than cell phones or cordless phones. If an abuser has access to your email account, they may be able to read your incoming and outgoing mail. If you believe your account is secure, make sure you choose a password that an abuser will not be able to guess.
If you must use email to correspond regarding abuse and are concerned about your abuser recovering your deleted email, it may be safer to sign up for a free web based email account from Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail to name a few. It will be more difficult for an abuser to obtain deleted emails if one of those companies are hosting your email. Just be sure that your browser is not set to remember your password or you abuser will have access to your email account.
If an abuser sends you threatening or harassing e-mail messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of this abuse. The messages may constitute an offense.
The World Wide Web
Most web browers (such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, FireFox, and Safari)
are designed to leave traces behind that document the web sites the user
has looked at. Using a web browser's history list and cache files,
an abuser can monitor the web sites a victim has been visiting. The
history list is a single file containing the addresses of the web sites
the user has visited recently. The cache files store copies of files
the user has looked at recently using a browser. There are ways to erase
the browser's history list and cache files.
Cache file / History / Bookmarks:
If an abuser knows how to read your computer's cache file (automatically
saved web pages and graphics), history (sites you have been to),
or cookies they may be able to see information you have viewed recently
on the Internet. You can clear your history or empty your cache file
in your browser's settings:
- Internet Explorer
- Pull down the Tools menu (older version may be the View menu)
- Select Internet Options
- On the General tab (should be the first one), under Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Cookies
- Click on Delete Files (make sure you check Delete all offline content).
- Under History click on Clear History.
- Netscape (Mozilla) browser
- Click Edit at the top of the browser.
- Click Preferences in the drop down menu
- On the left side category tree click the "plus sign" to the left of Privacy & Security.
- Under Privacy & Security, click the "plus sign" to the left of Cookies.
- In the window that pops up, right click Manage Stored Cookies.
- Ensure that the box near the bottom of that window which states: "Don't allow sites that set removed cookies to set future cookies" is unchecked
- Click Remove all cookies.
- Click Close.
- On the left side directory tree, click the "plus sign" next to Advanced.
- Under Advanced click on Cache.
- Click the Clear Cache button on the right window.
- FireFox
- Pull down the Tools menu
- Select Options.
- Click Privacy at the top of the Options window.
- Make sure each checkbox under the History heading is unchecked.
- Under Cookies, uncheck "Accept cookies from sites"
- Click the Exceptions button and be sure that no sites are listed in the exceptions box. If there are sites listed there, remove them by clicking the Remove All Sites button.
- Click the Close button on the exceptions window.
- Click the Show Cookies button and then click on the Remove All Cookies button.
- Under the Private Data heading, be sure to check the box that says "Always clear my private data when I close FireFox"
- Click on the Settings button under the Private Data heading
- You may check everything if you wish, or you may choose to leave Saved Passwords unchecked.
- Click OK.
- Click the Clear Now button under the Private Data heading.
- Click OK
- Older versions of Netscape Navigator:
- Pull down the Options menu.
- Select Network Options.
- Select Cache.
- Click Clear Disk Cache.
- AOL:
- Pull down the Members menu.
- Select Preferences.
- Click on the WWW icon.
- Select Advanced.
- Select Purge Cache.
NOTE: This information may not completely hide your tracks. Many
browser types have features that display recently visited sites.
Additionally, there is a lot of low-level software that can 'dig-up'
where you have been on the Internet as well as what you have done
on your computer. The safest way to find information on the Internet,
would be at a local library, a friend's house, or at work.
Erasing Cache Files
Search your hard drive for "cache" files. This can be done by using the
Search tool and searching for the word "cache". You should discover a folder/directory
containing many files with "cache" in their names. You will want to erase all of those files. Don't forget to empty the recycling bin or trash after deleting the cache files.
Erasing the history list if you use an alternate browser
Other browsers will be slightly different in the detail of what's
required to do these two things. But in any case, what you'll need
to do is clear your cache (or "temporary files") and erase your history
list. Again, this doesn't guarantee that your browsing can't be traced.
Someone with greater computer sophistication will still be able to
reconstruct your net travels. But it's a good thing to do to make it
more difficult for someone to know where you've been.
One Additional Tip
When you clear the cache and the history list, you erase not only
the information on where you've been, but any other information that
had been previously stored there. So, if your partner checks and sees
that the cache and the history list have been completely emptied, he'll
not only know that you know how to do this, but he might guess that
you're trying to hide something.
One possible way to avoid suspicion
is to clear the cache and history once you're done looking at information
you don't want your partner to know about. After they're cleared, spend
some time visiting sites that you think your partner wouldn't object
to. This way, the cache and history list start to get filled up and
your partner might be less likely to notice that old information is
missing.
This material is from Speaking Up, The Family Violence Prevention
Fund's Newsletter for the Domestic Violence Community and from the
Safety Zone website at http://thesafetyzone.org/security.html
