Privacy Tips

Passwords

1. Often when you enter passwords in an email account or other accounts, the computer will ask you if you want it to remember the password. If you are concerned that your abuser may be trying to monitor your email activity, tell your computer NOT to remember your passwords. Tell it no by making sure the check box next to the question is not checked. If your computer is remembering your password, your password is being stored somewhere in the computer where your abuser may be able to find it.

2. Choose passwords that are difficult to guess. Do not write passwords down anywhere. Create passwords using a random assortment of letters, numbers and symbols (i.e. 1fr&3jk). If you must write something down, write a hint to help you remember it, but not the password itself.

Address book

If you are concerned that your abuser may try to discover your email activity, do NOT enter sensitive information into your electronic address book. This includes email addresses of local shelters, advocates or other programs that you may have contacted for assistance. If you do maintain an electronic address book, containing the email addresses of friends and family, do NOT fill in fields such as personal address, phone number, organizational affiliation, etc.

If you are using Outlook Express or Outlook as a mail program, consider disabling the feature that automatically places the email address of someone you have replied to in your Address Book.

To disable this feature:

Go to Outlook Express:

1. Click on Edit/Options/Send
2. Uncheck the box beside Automatically put people I reply to in my Address Book.

This will prevent your computer from placing the email addresses, of those people you reply to, in your Address Book.

Automatic Name Completion

Email programs often have a function, automatic name completion, which automatically completes an email address when the first few letters are typed. This may provide your abuser with information about whom you have emailed. Keep in mind that this feature utilizes information that is stored in your electronic address book. While disabling the automatic name completion feature will prevent your abuser from easily discovering the recipients of your email, it will not prevent them from obtaining this information by examining your electronic address book.

Netscape Mail:

Follow this path to disable automatic name completion when entering an email address into a new message:

1. Click on Edit/Preferences/Mail & Newsgroups/Addressing
2. Uncheck the box beside Address Books.

This will prevent your computer from automatically entering email addresses into a new message.

Outlook:

Follow this path to disable automatic name completion when entering an email address in a new message:

1. Click on Edit/Options/Send
2. Uncheck the box beside Automatically complete e-mail addresses when composing.

This will prevent your computer from automatically entering email addresses into a new message.

Clearing Incoming and Outgoing Email

If you do not want your abuser to read your incoming or outgoing email messages, consider changing the settings of your email program to ensure that all messages are cleared from the appropriate folders.

1. Avoid saving a copy of outgoing email in the Sent Items Folder. To change your email program settings, follow this path:

Netscape:

1. Click on Edit/Preferences/Mail & Newsgroups/Copies and Folders
2. Unclick the box beside Place a Copy in Folder: 'Sent'.

This will prevent your computer from placing a copy of any outgoing mail in your Sent folder.

Outlook:

1. Click on Edit/Options/Send
2. Unclick the box beside Save a copy of sent message in the 'Sent Items' folder.

This will prevent your computer from placing a copy of any outgoing mail in your Sent Items folder.

1. Be sure to delete incoming messages from your Inbox and also be sure to empty your 'Trash' or 'Deleted Items' folder before exiting your mail program.

If you are using Outlook Express or Outlook as a mail program, you might consider enabling the feature that will empty your messages from the 'Deleted Items' folder when you exit the mail program.

To enable this feature, follow this path:

Outlook Express:

1. Click on Edit/Options/Maintenance
2. Click on the box beside Empty messages from the 'Deleted Items' folder on exit.

This will ensure that your email program deletes all messages in the 'Deleted Items' folder.

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