The internet can be a great source of information and there are many useful websites that can help people experiencing family violence. In particular there are Australian and Victorian websites which cover specific legal issues and provide access to support services.

Before making any decisions based on information read on the internet, it is always a good idea to check this information with a reliable support person (for example counsellor, social worker, solicitor) as some information can be incorrect or misleading.

It is important to protect your privacy if you are living with a person who may use violence against you, whether it is physical, emotional, verbal, social, financial or other. There are steps that you can take to help you feel safe using the internet, and to maximise your privacy if someone is trying to control what you do, write or view.

This page contains information on:

• computer access
• covering your internet tracks
• how to use email in a way that's private and safe

Computer access

When you need to use a computer for internet access, it is important to have a safe and private place from which to do it. This is because when you surf the internet, the computer on which you are working automatically stores information about the websites at which you have looked. This means that someone else can find out what websites you have been looking at, either on purpose or by accident.

A computer in a public place can give you greater privacy than at home. Public computers with internet access are available free in libraries and community centres (check your local council website for details or visit the Australian Library Gateway website) and cheap internet access is available in internet cafes. Alternatively a work or a friend's computer, may give you more privacy and more safety than at home.

Covering your tracks

If you can only use a computer at home, there are ways to make it difficult for someone to discover the sites you have been looking at. This may be a bit technical, but it is important to follow in order to maintain your privacy. Please note however that experienced computer technicians can track your files even if you have gone through the following actions.

Use a different browser

Each computer is automatically set to use a browser (the program used to access or surf the internet). This is usually Internet Explorer for a PC or Safari for an Apple Mac computer. There are many other browsers available that can be downloaded, though it is wise to save the new browser in a hidden folder so that only you have access. This may take longer to open and use, but it will mean that you won't then need to delete your tracks.

Delete your tracks

A computer records the internet site pages that you open in three ways: a cache, a history and typed URLs.

You can access these three areas and delete the pages that you have looked at but remember to do it each time (or frequently) as every time you look at a website its address will be recorded on your computer.

Only delete one page at a time as bulk deletions may look suspicious. 

If you empty the history folder completely it may become apparent to others that you don't want them to know what you have been looking at.

If you delete all files in the cache folder, your computer will slow down when using the internet, and previously visited sites (which usually come up in colour indicating that they have been visited) will now be seen in a colour indicating that they have not been visited. This might look suspicious. Deleting all the files in the cache folder will also mean that the drop down menu will not have the recently used sites of other users in the household - this might also look suspicious. Log-in passwords, preference data and other information stored by your computer (known as "cookies") such as passwords for online groups or membership sites may also be deleted when you clear your cache, and this will be noticeable by other users who will now need to log on again.

To delete your cache tracks

Each page you visit is stored by your browser in a cache folder on your hard drive. This makes it quicker for your computer to access the page again if you type in the address at a later stage. To delete this on a PC, you need to go to "Temporary Internet Files" and delete the relevant files. If you are using a Mac and have the Safari browser, you can click "Safari" on the toolbar, and then "Empty Cache". However this will delete everything in the cache and may create suspicion (see comments regarding this above).

To find where your cache is on your computer, you can search on your particular browser under "privacy" or "empty (or clear) cache".

To delete your history tracks

Each URL ("Uniform Resource Locator" - the bit that follows the www. on a website) that you visit is also stored by your browser. Your browser uses this list to determine whether each link on a webpage should be displayed in the normal link colour or the 'visited link' colour.

To delete these tracks, find the "History" button on your browser (different for Mac and PC) and delete the pages that you have visited.

To delete your URLs in the drop down menu in the address bar

Your computer will keep a list of sites that you have visited as a drop down menu on the location bar (usually the last 5 or 10 sites that you have been to depending on the browser). The drop-down menu is accessed by clicking the arrow at the right of the location bar. You can erase records of any sites that you have visited (that you don't want known) by just visiting new ones which then displace the names of the old ones.

Internet privacy software

You can buy and download internet privacy software but this costs money and requires a more detailed understanding of computers.

Email privacy and safe use

Email is an easy way to keep in private contact with people, especially if you are moving around a lot.

If you have a shared access email account at home, ensure that any email that you do not want seen by others is deleted both from the inbox and sent items box and then also from the deleted items box. Again, however, an expert computer technician may still be able to retrieve them.

If you are receiving threatening or unwanted emails, you may want to keep these for possible legal reasons (such as evidence proving that violence has been used or will be used against you to enable you to take out an intervention order). You can forward these emails to a private email address or print them and give them to someone trustworthy for safe keeping.

Free website accounts such as Yahoo and Hotmail can be easily accessed and have the added safety of login information and passwords. It is straightforward to set up an account, just make sure you read and accept the terms and conditions. You can access these web based programs from home or from public places (as with general internet use, public libraries and community centres with online access or internet cafes are safe places to access web based email accounts).

If you are using these programs from home, ensure that you always sign out completely. This means that someone else can't go back and access your files. Don't click "keep me signed in" or "remember my ID on this computer". Always protect your password (like a PIN number at the bank) - it is yours and you should not disclose it. You should also make it one only you will know. The other advantage of these free web based programs is that they have storage, and so you can safely keep emails and files in these accounts.

Hotmail can automatically store your password on the computer, so make sure you select "Always ask for my email address and password".

These email programs differ from the larger companies like phone providers Telstra and Optus, as the email accounts provided from these companies can be tracked. Do not use these Bigpond or Optus (or similar) addresses for emails that you do not want others to find. If you do use a provider such as these, make sure you delete emails that you do not want others to read from both your inbox and sent items box and then also from your deleted items box. Though do remember that again a computer expert may be able to track them through the email provider as copies can be kept there.