Cover Your Tracks

Do not underestimate your partner. Learn to cover your tracks.

A partner can often tell when a woman has made up her mind to leave the abusive situation.

Good Tips to Stay Safe:

1. Always use private browsing mode / Incognito Mode in of the browsers that you use.
2. Always Delete cache, cookies & history
3. Dial some random numbers on your telephone
4. Delete your log list on your mobile
5. Delete emails from Inbox, Spam and Sent folder
6. Always change your password atleast 1s a month for email.

 

Computer:

Every website browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Google Chrome, Safari) keeps a record of websites you have visited. Find instructions on how to delete “cookies” or “temporary internet files”. You can use the HELP function of your browser. Many browsers will also remember things you have searched for so delete any previous searches such as “signs of abuse” “am I being abused” or “how to erase websites I have visited”.

Telephone Risk:

When you contact us, or any organization assisting women in danger, be careful to use a telephone that does not keep a record of the number you called. If you have a memory in your phone, hit redial and then “clear” or “erase” to remove that number from your called list. Or if your phone only stores the last number you called, call a friend after you call for help. If you call long distance the phone number will appear on your bill. And if you and your partner share an Internet-based phone system, like VOIP or Skype, do not use this system to call for help. Cell phones can also keep records.

Email:

Your email program will save a copy of any sent messages. Make sure to completely remove any emails that your partner might find or do not use a computer or email box that your partner has access to. If you have emailed Ernestine’s and we did not respond call us instead.

If you are not sure of your telephone system, or what it might be able to tell your partner, use a friend’s phone, a public phone, a work phone, or a phone that has nothing to do with your partner.

CLEARING HISTORY & CACHE FILES IN:

Internet Explorer:

• If you are using Internet Explorer 6 or an older version, click on Tools in the menu.
• Click on Internet Options.
• In the General tab under Temporary Internet Files, Click on Delete Files. This will clear your browser’s cache.
• Under History, Click on Clear History. This will clear the pages you’ve recently visited.
• If you are using Internet Explorer 7, click on Tools.
• In the General tab under Internet Options, click Delete under Browsing History and that will delete everything from the new dialogue window that appears.

Firefox:

• Open the Firefox browser and navigate to the Tools menu (for Windows users) or the Firefox menu (for Mac users).
• Click the Tools drop down menu and then click Clear Private Data.
• If you are using a newer version of Firefox, you can click Tools drop down menu and then click Clear Recent History.
• Press the “OK” or “Clear Now” button (Windows) or simply close the preferences box (Mac). Your cache will now be clear.

Safari:

• From the Safari menu, click Empty Cache.
• When asked “Are you sure you want to empty the cache?” click Empty.
• From the Safari menu, click Preferences.
• From the Security dialog box, click Bookmarks.
• Click Show Cookies.
• From the Cookie dialog box, click to choose a cookie, and click Remove. Alternatively, if you want to delete all cookies, clic Remove All.
• Click Done.

Chrome:

• On your computer, open Chrome.
• At the top right, click More.
• Click More tools, Clear browsing data.
• At the top, choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
• Next to “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files,” check the boxes.
• Click Clear data.

AOL’s Browser:

• In the menu, click on My AOL.
• Click on Preferences.
• Click on the WWW icon and then under Temporary Internet Files click on Delete Files.
• Under History click Clear History.