Advanced DIY Privacy for Every Woman
  • Introduction
  • Before we start
  • 1 - Identify your security risks
  • Security areas to prioritise
  • 2- Document security violations
  • Safety and security strategies
  • Securing a mobile phone or a tablet
  • FAQ on mobile phones
  • Securing your laptop/other connected devices?
  • 3 - Securing your connections
  • 4 - Securing your apps, software and internet services
  • 5 - Browsing the web
  • Social engineering and phishing
  • Internet browser, search engine and passwords
  • IP address, WIFI and emails
  • Social media: what to pay attention to!
  • Facebook, Twitter, Google, Foursquare
  • Apps and internet enabled apps
  • Online banking, billing account and other accounts
  • Protection measures
  • 6 - Documenting privacy violations
  • Voice calls and keeping a diary
  • 7 - Advanced security resources
  • Anti-virus, Firewall and Spyware
  • Secure internet browsing
  • Authentification
  • Encryption
  • Deleting your information
  • 8 - Glossary
  • How we put this guide together
  • Final words
Powered by GitBook
On this page
  • Identify your security risks
  • Assess the strength of your security
  • Who is your stalker/abuser?
  • Does the environment you live in increase the threat?

1 - Identify your security risks

Identify your security risks

First of all, you need to know what the risks you’re facing are in order to take the necessary steps to protect yourself. The sooner you diagnose areas of vulnerability, the quicker you can find solutions. Even though you realise that a post you made on social media unknowingly divulged your location, you can now act.

You should take as much care to protect your online presence as you do with your physical one. Securing our online presence is crucial to health and happiness; if someone intrudes upon our online space, it is easy to feel violated. Therefore, online safety habits need to be developed and practiced to become second nature, like locking your front door or storing your valuables somewhere safe.

“But online, what is our “door” and what are our “valuables”?”

This part will help you figure that out.

Assess the strength of your security

Who is your stalker/abuser?

Do you know the abuser or is it an unknown person or group?

  • How are you and the abuser or abusers connected? Do you know them personally?

  • How financially resourceful are they?

  • How politically or socially influential are they?

  • How technologically competent are they?

  • What is their relationship to you?

  • What if you’re unsure of who they are?

Does the environment you live in increase the threat?

  • What are the laws and policies that affect you?

  • What are the cultural norms of your/your abuser’s community and family?

    Are they likely to favour your abuser and make your story sound unbelievable or paranoid? If so, the risk you’re under is higher.

  • How easy is it to bribe someone where you live?

PreviousBefore we startNextSecurity areas to prioritise

Last updated 7 years ago

This depends on where you live. For example, in the UK, thanks to the Human Rights Act, legal frameworks are in place to prevent others from using your personal data “in a way that causes damage or distress.” On the other hand, Pakistani privacy laws have done little to protect digital rights, like how data is collected, stored, and used. See an overview of . It is also advisable to check if there are any laws against stalking and how well they are enforced. If you don’t know, try talking to people you trust to get information from them. If it is difficult to obtain information about safety and privacy laws, it is likely that they are either non-existent or weakly enforced, so your environment increases the threat.

Have you or any of your family and friends ever bribed anyone or witnessed a bribe? It doesn’t have to be a big thing - do you know of anyone getting out of a speeding ticket, or getting their documents faster by giving a bribe? If there is corruption in the system where you live, it puts you at additional risk, especially if your abuser is wealthy or influential. Refer to for an overview of perceptions of corruption in your country.

Data Protection Laws of the world
http://cpi.transparency.org