Straight Talk About Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking includes (repeatedly) sending threats or false accusations via email or mobile phone, making threatening or false posts on websites, stealing a person’s identity or data or spying and monitoring a person’s computer and internet use. Sometimes the threats can escalate into physical spaces.

There are just as many predators on the internet as there are in real life. Anyone can be stalked online but the majority of victims as in life offline are female. Stalking estimates show that 80% of stalking victims are women.

And the perpetrators are not just strangers. They can also be former, estranged or current partners, boyfriends or husbands. Domestic violence victims are one of the most vulnerable groups to traditional stalking so it’s no surprise they are vulnerable to cyberstalking as well.

As in other types of violence against women, cyberstalking is about power relations, intimidation and establishing control. If you are being stalked, know first and foremost that you did NOT “provoke” this harassment.

How can I prevent someone from stalking me online?

- Be careful what personal information you share online including in email, on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It is very easy to glean information about where you live, the places you love to go to in your area and the people you care about from posts and pictures.

- Create a different email account for registering in social networking sites and other online spaces. It will help avoid spam and your personal email won´t be revealed if the online service doesn’t have a good privacy practice.

- Do not feel obligated to fill out all fields when registering online or provide identifying information such as birthdates and place in required fields.

- In your online user profile, use a photo that doesn’t identify you or your location, so you can’t be recognised.

- Consider using a name that is not your real name or a nickname as your email name, screen name or user ID. And try not to use common dates such as your birthday as the digits in your email name or password. Instead, pick a name that is gender- and age-neutral. Treat your email and/or internet account like you would your credit card, ID or passport number – very carefully.

- If you are breaking up with an intimate partner – especially if they are abusive, troubled, angry or difficult – reset every single password on all of your accounts, from email and social networking accounts to bank accounts, to something they cannot guess.

- Services such as Facebook change their privacy policy all the time, so it is a good idea to check your privacy settings to make sure you are sharing the information you want to share with people you trust and not the general internet public. Some sites have options for you to test how your profile is being viewed by others – test and make sure you only reveal what is absolutely necessary.

- What information are family and friends posting about you? Let them know your concerns about privacy and help them learn better privacy settings.

- Do an internet search of your name regularly and monitor where you appear online. If you find unauthorised info about yourself online, contact the website moderator to request its removal.

- Make sure that your internet service provider (ISP), cell phone service, instant messenger (called internet relay chat, or IRC in some terms of service) network and other services you use has an acceptable privacy policy that prohibits cyberstalking. If they have none, suggest they create one and/or switch to a provider that is more responsive to user privacy concerns and complaints.

Digital forensics takes much more than an average knowledge of all things digital, it requires a thorough understanding of investigative process, the law of evidence and of naturally the appropriate background to criminal and civil investigations.

Contact DLA today and let us follow the digital trail to find the evidence you need!