Security Warning!

Important Safety Tips for Internet Users!

Computer use can be monitored, and it is impossible to completely clear your history. There is always a “trail”. If you are afraid your internet and/or computer usage might be monitored, please use a safe computer, call your local hotline, and/or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Below are tips for safe usage.

Your safety is our primary concern. If you are in danger, please call 911 or our hotline at 1-800-355-8547.

HOW AN ABUSER CAN DISCOVER YOUR INTERNET ACTIVITIES

Internet & Computer Safety

• There are hundreds of ways that computers record everything you do on the computer and on the Internet.
• If you are in danger, please try to use a safer computer that someone abusive does not have direct access, or even remote (hacking) access to.
• It might be safer to use a computer in a public library, at a trusted friend’s house, an Internet Café or at work.
• If you think your activities are being monitored, they probably are. Abusive people are often controlling 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.
• Computers can provide a lot of information about what you look at on the Internet, the emails you send, and other activities. It is not possible to delete or clear all computer “footprints”.
• If you think you may be monitored on your home computer, you might consider no home Internet use or "safer" Internet surfing. Example: If you are planning to flee to California, don't look at classified ads for jobs and apartments, bus tickets, etc for California on a home computer or any computer an abuser has physical or remote access to. Use a safer computer to research an escape plan.
• Traditional “corded” phones are more private than cell phones or cordless phones.

E-mail

Email is not a safe or confidential way to talk to someone about the danger or abuse in your life, please call our hotline instead (1-800-355-8547). If an abuser has access to your e-mail 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 e-mail 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 General’s office.

Internet Activity

If an abuser knows how to read your computer’s history or cache file (automatically saved web pages and graphics), he or she may be able to see information you have viewed recently on the internet. You can clear your history or empty your cache file.*

*The following instructions may clear your history or empty your cache file in your browser’s settings. This information may not completely hide your tracks. Many browser types have features that display recently visited sites. The safest way to find information on the internet would be at a local library, a friend’s house, or at work.

AOL: Pull down Members Menu, select Preferences. Click on WWW icon. Then select Advanced. Purge Cache.

Netscape: Pull down edit menu and select Preferences. Click on Navigator and choose “Clear History.” Click Advanced then select Cache. Clear Disk Cache.

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Microsoft Internet Explorer (Internet Explorer 4.0 and above on a PC)

On the toolbar click on the ‘Tools’ or 'View' option (depending on the version you are running) and click on ‘Internet Options’. On the general tab, under History, click on Clear History; click ‘Yes’ to the delete history. Under the Temporary Internet files, click on Delete Files; check the box for ‘Delete all offline content’ and click ‘OK’. See steps below.

Step 1 – Click on the ‘Tools’ or 'View' menu and click on ‘Internet Options’.

Step 2 – On General tab page under history click the ‘Clear History’ button. You can change the 'Days to keep pages in History:' to zero before clearing history.

Step 3 – Click ‘Yes’ to the question of ‘Are you sure you want Windows to delete your history of visited Web Sites?’

Step 4 – Then Click the ‘Delete Files’ button.

Step 5 – Check the ‘Delete offline content’ box and then click ‘OK’.

Step 6 – Click ‘OK’.

To verify everything is cleared, click the 'History' button on the web browser toolbar - it should be empty. Also, click the arrow on the right of the URL Address box - it should be empty as well.

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Internet Explorer 4.0 and above for Macintosh

Instructions for clearing cache:

• In Internet Explorer 4 or above, open the "Edit" menu, and then click on"Preferences".
• Double click on "Web Browser" until the list drops down.
• Select "Advanced".
• You will see a box called "Cache", and click on the "Empty Now" button.
• Click "OK", then Quit from Internet Explorer and restart your computer if you need to.

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Clearing the Netscape History File

Netscape Navigator

• From the "Options" menu, select "General Preferences" and then the "Appearance" tab.
• Click "Expire Now" to immediately clear the history file.

Netscape Communicator

• From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences" then the Navigator category in the list along the left side of the window.
• Click on "Expire Now" to immediately clear the history file.

With Netscape closed, search your computer for the history file and delete it. The next time you open the browser, the file will be recreated.

• For Windows (all versions), the file is called netscape.hst
• For Macintosh, the file is called global history
• For Unix (all versions), the file is called history.dat

Clearing the Location (Netsite) Toolbar drop-down menu

If you do not know which version of Netscape Navigator or Communicator you are running, under the "Help" menu, click on "About Communicator", "About Navigator", or "About Netscape" (the entry will differ depending on which version you have). The first line of the resulting screen will tell you the version number.

Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98 or NT 4.0
Product Version: Navigator 2.0 - 3.04

Only the last 10 URLs you typed into the Location Bar text field will be listed. Since only the last entries you typed are stored, the easiest method of clearing unwanted entries is to type a number of URLs to displace those currently listed.

Operating Systems: Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0
Product Version: Communicator 4.0 - 4.05

Only the last 15 URLs you typed into the Location Bar text field will be listed. Since only the last entries you typed are stored, the easiest method of clearing unwanted entries is to type a number of URLs to displace those currently listed.

Operating Systems: Windows (all versions)
Product Version: Communicator 4.06 - 4.7

• Open Communicator.
• From the Edit menu, select "Preferences".
• Click on "Navigator" on the left so it is selected.
• On the right, click the "Clear Location Bar" button.
• Click OK.
  
  

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