Preventing Technology-Enabled Abuse

The first line of defense against Technology Enabled Abuse is to protect yourself by limiting the amount of personal information you share online and increasing the security of both your accounts and your devices:

Don’t overshare on social media.

• Regularly review the privacy settings on all your social media accounts.

• Google yourself on a regular basis or set up a Google alert to be aware of what information about you is online.

Strengthen your security practices.

• Enable strong authentication on all your personal accounts.

  • Limit access to your computer and other internet-connected devices.

  • Enable your security protections, such as passwords or biometric scans, so that only you can access them.

  • Always remember to log out before you step away from your computer/cell phone.

  • Review your applications to ensure that there is no spyware downloaded on your device.

  • Review GPS and location-tracking settings for all applications and ensure they are enabled only for the important ones requiring it such as the Mobile ID app with your Mountaineer Card, the LiveSafe app, or Uber.

Take steps to remove or reduce the availability of information about yourself.

• Review this guide for Voting & Survivor Privacy

  • Assess your state’s address confidentiality programs

  • Review the Safety Net Project’s guide to Removing Sensitive Content from the Internet

  • Students can fill out the Student Confidentiality Form to remove their information from the University directory, including MIX Gmail address and contact information.

• If you believe that an account has been compromised, change your password and log out of all devices. Google, Facebook, and many other social media accounts allow you to force logout on all devices that are logged in. This ensures that no one else is still logged in when you change your password.