Dating Violence Awareness Month
Doxing is when a person researches and posts private (or public) information about you or loved ones online, without your consent, with the malicious intent to shame, embarrass or harm you. Guides on doxing: Speak Up and Stay Safe(r) - Preventing Doxxing - So you’ve been doxxed
Examples of doxing:
-Making false inflammatory accusations against victims via social media
-Sharing victim’s contact information like email, home or work address
-Exposing sensitive video or photos of victim online
-Posting public or private information to embarrass and intimidate a victim
Cyberstalking can leave victims feeling afraid that they or a loved one will be harmed or killed.
Cyberstalking can also be: Using devices to track your movements (i.e., apps, cell phone, photo metadata, GPS, security cameras, smart speakers, etc.)
Harassing you on social media sites
Checking your email, reading your texts or social media feeds
Threatening to expose private information
Minimize details and photos of where you live and work, omit names of household occupants including pets, restrain from sharing in real time your travel status or location, and any personal information that could be used to hack into account security questions: i.e.; birthdays, birthplaces, mother’s maiden name, street names
Have different passwords for each account and change them regularly: Refrain from using passwords that include personal information, like birthdays, children or pet names, etc. Computer generated passwords are best.
Two-factor authentication adds another level of security for online accounts. You should set this up for your social media, online banking, and any account connected to your credit cards (Venmo, PayPal, Amazon), and things with recurring payments that have credit card info like Netflix.
Increase privacy on your social media accounts: Check who can follow you and/or see your posts.
Check account security settings; Each platform has different settings and they are constantly getting updated.
Consider making Instagram feeds private, as even un-geotagged photos can provide a lot of useful location information.
Remove yourself from people search sites:
•PeopleFinders •Intelius •Whitepages
These sites can reveal relatives, phone numbers, addresses (past and present), etc., that can be used by abusers to harass you and your family. While some sites are more difficult than others to opt out of, if you go through all of them, it will take you out of most of the common online search services. NEVER provide sensitive information like your credit card number or Social Security number while opting out. Note that removing your name from a people search site doesn’t remove your information from public records. (Spokeo, BeenVerified, and Truthfinder are other popular services)
Turn off geo-tagging on cell phone photos - Cell phone photos can be loaded with meta-data including the location, date and time the photo was taken.
iPhone/iPad- Go to Settings- Scroll to Privacy and tap- Scroll to Location Services and tap -Scroll to Camera and Tap- Tap Never
Android- Open Camera app- Tap on the settings (gear icon) on the left hand side of screen- Make sure ‘Location Tags’ is turned off
Voter information is concealed for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking through the Oklahoma Address Confidentiality Program (866) 227-7784: Voter files are public records in nearly every state, but some states block the release of information for certain people. In Oklahoma, information is concealed for individuals participating in the state’s Address Confidentiality Program for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking. Reach out to a tribal domestic violence program for more information on how to take advantage of this Program.
