Staying safe online
Your safety is the most important thing. If you do not want anyone to know that you have visited the Refuge website please read the information below. It sets out the steps you can take to increase your safety when using the internet.
Please remember that if you are concerned that someone is monitoring your internet usage, your safest option would be to access the internet from another place such as a friend's house, your work, an internet café or local library.
Covering your tracks
Every time you use the internet your internet browser saves pieces of information such as images, search terms or words used in search engines and login names. This helps the pages you visit frequently load faster by loading the files from your hard disk drive instead of having to downloading the web page in full again. These are saved as 'cookies' and they can mark a trail or 'history' that reveals what you have been looking at online. Below are instructions on how to minimize the chances of someone finding out that you have visited this website's such as Refuge's.
However - please note that there is a risk involved in removing data from your computer. Removing cookies may clear saved passwords for membership sites or online banking which may alert your partner to the fact that you have removed information. Also, your partner may notice if the address history on the PC has been cleared, and this may raise suspicion.
When you have finished viewing the Refuge site take these steps to keep others from knowing you have visited this site.
If you are unsure what browser you are using click on Help on the toolbar at the top of the browser screen. A drop down menu will appear, the last entry will say About Internet Explorer, About Mozilla Firefox, or something similar. The entry refers to which browser type you are using. You can then follow the relevant instructions below.
Safari on an Apple Mac
When you have finished viewing the Refuge site take these steps to keep others from knowing you have visited this site.
Please be aware that it is not possible to delete only selected files from your computers history file. Following the procedure below will result in clearing the whole history file and may put you more at risk.
Remove ALL sites from your computers history:
1. Pull down the History menu in the browser window
2. The history of the websites that have been viewed will show in the menu
3. Click on the "Clear History" option
Remove the Refuge site from your computers cache:
1. On your keyboard press ALT + Apple key + E
2. Press the "Empty" button
Microsoft Internet
Explorer users
Viewing History
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x users can view their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options", clicking the "Settings" button under the Browsing history, and then clicking the "View Files" button.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x users can view their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options", clicking the "Settings" button, and then clicking the "View Files" button.
Deleting History
- Microsoft Windows users running Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x and 7.x can delete their history files by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options", and clicking the "Delete Files" or "Delete" button. Users also have the option of automatically deleting files each time the close the browser window by clicking the "Advanced" tab and checking "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed" under the "Security" section.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x users on an Apple Macintosh can delete the history by clicking the "Hard Drive" icon, "System", "Preferences", "Explorer", and moving the history file into the trash.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.02 and lower users can delete their history by clicking the "View" menu, "Options", open the tab "Advanced", click the "Settings" tab, and click the "Empty Folder" button.
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Mozilla Firefox users
Viewing History
- Press Ctrl + H to open the left-side history bar.
- or Click History at the top of the window.
- or Users using earlier versions of Mozilla Firefox can also view their history by clicking "Go" and clicking "History".
Deleting History
- Mozilla Firefox users can clear their history by clicking the "Tools" menu, "Options", clicking the "Piracy" button, and under "History" click the "Clear" or "Clear Now" button.
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Netscape users
Viewing History
- Microsoft Windows users can view history by first opening Netscape and click the "Edit" menu, "Preferences", "History", and view the location where Netscape is storing your files. Next, open this folder within Explorer.
Deleting History
- Netscape users can delete their history files by clicking the "Edit" menu, "Preferences", "History", and click the "Clear History" button.
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Opera users
Viewing History
- Users can view their history files by opening the "cache" folder within their opera folder. Microsoft Windows users can often find this within "C:\Program files\Opera\".
Deleting History
- Opera users can delete their history by clicking the "File" menu, "Preferences", "History", and click "Empty now" button. In addition, users can check "Empty on exit" if they wish for this task to occur each time they exit the browser.
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Safari users
- Resetting Safari clears the history, empties the cache, clears the Downloads window, and removes all cookies. It also removes any saved user names and passwords or other AutoFill data and clears Google/Yahoo search entries. To do this go to the Safari menu at top left hand screen. Choose Reset Safari, and click Reset.
Toolbars:
- Toolbars such as Google, AOL and Yahoo also record the search words you have typed into the search box. To remove all the search words you have typed in, check the individual instructions for your toolbar. For example, for the Google toolbar all you need to do is click on the Google icon, and choose "Clear Search History".
Deleting your browsing history:
- Internet browsers also keep a record of all the web pages you visit. This is known as a 'history'. To delete history for Internet Explorer and Netscape/Firefox hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard, then press the H key (Crtl, Alt and H for Opera). Find any entries that say www.refuge.org.uk, right click and choose Delete. For Safari, select History at top of the screen and choose "Clear History"
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E-mail
Reading your emails is also a way in which your partner can monitor what you are doing. So its important to remember the following:
- If you do not use a password to log on to your computer, someone else will be able to access your email and track your internet usage. The safest way to find information on the internet, would be at a local library, a friend's house, or at work.
- Any email you have already sent will normally be saved in the folder marked sent Items. Go to sent items and delete emails you don't want a person to see.
- Sometimes an unfinished email will be saved in the folder marked "drafts". Go to the drafts folder to delete it.
- If you reply to any email, the original message will probably be in the body of the message - delete the email if you dont want anyone to see your original message.
- Remember to empty your Deleted Items folder as allof your deleted items are stored there until you empty the folder and remove them completely.
- If you have a shared email account or our partner has access to your login or password details, you may wish to set up a new email account that you can keep private. Use a provider like Hotmail or Yahoo for an account you can access from anywhere, and use a name that is not recognisable as you.
Please note: If an abuser sends you threatening or harassing e-mail messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of this abuse.
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