New Resources on Technology Safety For Agencies & Survivors

We receive a lot of questions from victim service providers about technology safety. How do we use use technology within our organizations? How are abusers misusing technology to stalk victims? How do we educate survivors on increasing their privacy when using technology. In response to those questions and concerns, we have developed additional resources to assist programs and survivors. We are very excited to officially release two brand new toolkits for that exact purpose: Agency’s Use of Technology Best Practices & Policies and Technology Safety & Privacy: A Toolkit for Survivors. These two toolkits comprise of a variety of resources on technology safety issues that will be helpful for victim service providers and the survivors they serve.

The misuse of technology by abusers is a serious concern for victim service agencies working with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking. Because we use technology every day of our lives, it has become an easy tool for perpetrators to misuse to stalk and harass victims. Survivors need to know how to strategize for their own safety when using technology.

The Technology Safety & Privacy: A Toolkit for Survivors contains information on a variety of topics to help survivors maintain their safety. Resources include safety plans around technology use, including a specific safety plan for cell phones; videos on how to limit location access on a smart phone and how to take a screenshot on a computer or cell phone to document abuse; and lots of information on online safety, including a Facebook privacy & safety guide and tips on how to create more secure passwords.

The need to know how to use technology safely isn’t limited to survivors. Victim service agencies need to make sure that their own use of technology is secure and private. How they set up and use technology can have serious safety implications for the survivors they work with. The Agency’s Use of Technology Best Practices & Policies toolkit includes a wide range of information, including guidance when using different types of technology to communicate with survivors; resources on data management, including how to select a database; and best practices and policies around the use of technologies such as faxes and computers.

These toolkits and resources were created with support from US DOJ-OVC Grant #2011-VF-GX-K016. 

Creator of StealthGenie Arrested

A couple weeks ago, Hammad Akbar, the creator of StealthGenie, a mobile application that allows someone to spy on another person’s cellphone, was arrested by the FBI. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy, sales of surreptitious interception devices, and advertising a surreptitious interception device. Advertised as a way to keep an eye on cheating spouses, monitor teenage children, and employers, anyone can download and install StealthGenie to monitor all activities on a cell phone.

Other than the computer, the cellphone is one of the most used forms of technology. In fact, according Pew Internet, 44% of Americans sleep with their phones so they don’t miss out on texts or messages. We use our cell phone to organize our lives, search for information (let me google that for you), entertain us, and communicate with others – via text, social media, email, and, sometimes, even a phone call. For many of us, survivors included, our cell phone is our lifeline to help, information, and to other people. Cellphone spyware makes it incredibly easy for abusers and stalkers to monitor the activities and location of survivors through their cell phones.

When abusers are stalking their victims’ phones via spyware, it is 24-7 control and abuse. In addition to constant monitoring, abusers often engage in other types of abuse, such as physical abuse, threats, and emotional abuse. The result is that survivors feel completely isolated and cut off from any avenue of help. Everything they say and everything they do is monitored and controlled by the abuser. The trauma and the fear can be overwhelming.

StealthGenie isn’t the only monitoring product out there. There are many similar products available, including mSpy, MobiStealth, Spy Bubble. Some of these products are advertised under the guise of protecting your vulnerable children or protecting your liability by monitoring your employees. Some come right out and encourage users to buy their products to “catch your cheating spouse.” In reality, abusers and stalkers are buying these products to further terrorize and abuse their victims.

We’re glad that the government is cracking down on products that make it easier for abusers to harm victims. For years, when their phones were being monitored survivors would have to get a new phone – a very expensive step – simply to stay safe. Removing these types of products from the market means one less tool for abusers to use to stalk and harass survivors of domestic violence and stalking.

For more information about cell phone safety, visit our Technology Safety & Privacy toolkit. For more information about NNEDV Safety Net’s advocacy work on cell phone privacy and safety, watch Cindy Southworth, Vice President of NNEDV’s testimony at the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2014 hearing. 

Cybersecurity & Violence Against Women

In addition to being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, this month is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month. When we think about cybersecurity, we often think of security from identity theft, fraud, phishing, or hackers who steal passwords and information. But cyber – or online – security has a broader meaning for victims of domestic and sexual violence and stalking. Cybersecurity also means personal safety – safety from harm, harassment, and abuse while online.

For many survivors, being online can feel unsafe because the abuser or stalker is accessing their online accounts to monitor their activities; posting harmful and negative things about them, including sexually explicit images and personally identifying information; or using cyberspace to harass and make violent threats under the cover of “anonymity.” Abusers and stalkers often compromise the security of survivors’ technologies by installing monitoring software on cell phones or computers or forcing them to reveal passwords to online accounts.

In a study conducted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, victim service providers report that of the survivors they work with 75% have abusers who access their online accounts, 65% have abusers who monitor their online activities, and 68% have had their pictures posted online by the abuser without their consent. In a survey by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, when abusers and stalkers distribute sexually explicit images of victims, 59% includes the full name of the victim, 49% include social media information, and 20% include the phone numbers of the victim. Online harassment, in the context of abuse and stalking, can have serious and dangerous consequences.

So this month, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Cybersecurity Awareness Month coincides, let’s think about cybersecurity and safety beyond safely making an online purchase but how we can create an environment where all can be personally safe from violence while online. How do we create a safe online space that doesn’t tolerate abuse? How do we support those who are victimized online, whether their ex is making threats via social networks, or someone is distributing sexually explicit images of them online, or they’re being threatened by a group of strangers online simply because they have an opinion about gender and dare to be in a male-dominated space? And how do we hold accountable those who are threatening, abusing, and harassing victims online?

This month—and all months—help us figure out the answers to these important questions. Comment below if you have thoughts or ideas.