Browsing more safely

If someone else uses or checks your phone, tablet or computer, these steps can make your visit to this site harder to find. None of them is perfect, and you know your own situation best.

If you are in danger now, call 112. 016 can also help you think through what is safe for you. It is free, open 24 hours a day and answers in 53 languages.

What the Quick exit does

The pink Quick exit button, or the Esc key on a computer, takes you straight to Google and replaces the page you were on, so pressing Back will not bring it back. It does not delete anything. The pages you read here are still in your browsing history, and anyone who opens the history can see them.

Use a private window

A private window keeps no history of the pages you visit once you close it. Open one before you come to this site:

• Chrome: Ctrl+Shift+N (on a Mac, Cmd+Shift+N) opens an Incognito window
• Edge: Ctrl+Shift+N opens an InPrivate window
• Firefox: Ctrl+Shift+P (on a Mac, Cmd+Shift+P)
• Safari on a Mac: Cmd+Shift+N
• On a phone: open the browser’s menu and choose a new private or incognito tab

A private window does not hide your visit from someone who has put monitoring software on the device, and it does not hide it from whoever runs the network, such as an employer.

Clearing your history

If you did not use a private window, you can remove the visit afterwards. Press Ctrl+H (on a Mac, Cmd+Y in Chrome and Safari) to open your history, find the pages from this site and delete those entries only. On a phone, the history is in the browser’s menu.

Think before you clear everything. If your history is usually full and is suddenly empty, the change itself can be noticed. Deleting only the pages you want to hide is less likely to stand out.

Use a device the other person cannot reach

The safest choice is a phone or computer that the person you are worried about never uses or checks: one belonging to someone you trust, one at work, or a public computer at your local library.

Calls and messages

The Ministry of Equality says that several phone makers have made their smartphones leave calls to 016 out of the call log. This does not work on every phone, so look at your own call log after calling.

If you write to 016 on WhatsApp, at 600 000 016, the conversation stays in WhatsApp until you delete it. Calls and messages may also show on a bill, or in an account, that someone else can see.

Signs that a phone may be watched

A person who controls a partner may also try to keep track of them through their phone or their accounts. Things to look out for:

• they know where you have been, or what you have said in a message, without being told
• Google Maps, Find My, WhatsApp or another app is sharing your location, and you did not switch it on
• there are apps you do not recognise, or the battery runs down much faster than it used to
• they know your passwords, or your accounts are signed in on a device of theirs

If you think your phone is being watched, it can be safer to leave things as they are for now and ask for advice first, from 016 or from 017 below, because removing an app or changing every password at once may be noticed. Ask from a device the other person cannot reach.

Keeping evidence safe

If you are saving messages, photographs or notes as evidence, keep copies where the other person cannot reach them: in an email account that only you know about, or with someone you trust.