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This tip is about the how to Prevent Cyberstalking While Seeking Help Online. So read this free guide, How to Prevent Cyberstalking While Seeking Help Online step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.
How to Prevent Cyberstalking While Seeking Help Online – Guide
When done reasonably and safely, communicating through social media and other public forums online can be beneficial both socially and professionally. However, if you are not careful, it can lead to numerous unintended consequences, one of which is cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is stalking or harassment over the internet. It can target individuals, groups or even organizations and can take many forms including defamation, slander and threats.
The reasons could be to control or intimidate the victim or to collect information for other crimes such as identity theft or offline stalking. While cyberstalking victims are not to be blamed, the current online landscape lends itself to creating “soft targets”. For example, nowadays many social media users don’t think twice about posting personal information publicly, sharing their feelings and desires, posting family photos and much more.
How to Avoid cyberstalking while looking for help online
Keep your work account different from your personal account
It is recommended that if you are someone looking for an online presence professionally, you keep all your posts in the Professional account strictly based on the work you want to show and not your personal life. Whereas, the personal account that you created primarily to interact with your friends, colleagues or relatives should be kept in private mode and be very careful when accepting requests from strangers. It is advisable not to accept such requests until and unless you know the person or have met them personally.
Do not share address, phone email number or id on social media
It is very important to keep your personal information to yourself and not share it over social media, just as you would never share your personal information with an unknown person who is traveling with you on the bus. stop sharing your phone email number and ID. If it’s absolutely necessary to share your email ID to do business, always use a professional email ID.
Social media influencers or celebrities are often seen taking a virtual tour of their home which can lead to various problems as it makes it easy for the cyberstalker to access your home. There have been many cases where the stalker broke into the victim’s home home just because he saw the virtual tour of his homes and planned accordingly.
Keep GPS (Global Positioning System) location off your mobile or other electronic devices
When there is no need to activate GPS location on your mobile or other appliances, keep it turned off. There are many apps that use your current location to customize the user experience. But what can be the ease of use of apps can also lead to the trap of a cyberstalker who can hack or monitor your system.
Always log out of your social media accounts when not in use and keep mobiles and laptops password protected.
Keep your IP addresses safe with VPN (Virtual Private Network)
While VPN use can be debated and in many parts of the world is considered illegal, VPN use in India is legal. It is often mistaken that VPN is only used for illegal activities whereas in today’s world using VPN has much better implications for protecting your privacy. Browsing securely online is a difficult task with so many data breaches happening all over the world.
VPN will keep your confidential information safe and protect it from being stolen, although it is not a 100% effective method, it still provides an exponentially secure network.
Do not reply to messages from strangers
Replying to messages from unknown people can often instigate the stalker as their ulterior motive is to draw your attention to them. Or you can politely ask them to stop sending these messages and the legal consequences that will follow if they don’t. Even after your subpoena, if the abuser doesn’t stop, you can report and block that account.
Check privacy settings before sharing or posting
Control who can see your profile and who can’t, who can share your post and restrict who you don’t want to share it with. There are several features on Facebook and Instagram, which allow you to remain private or Lock your profile and make changes to your privacy settings to make it more personalized and secure.
You can always take advantage of these settings by going to the Applications General Settings, which help you stay safe and discard unwanted attention.
Final note
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