Staying Safe Online
What it is
Section titled “What it is”Strong passwords, privacy settings, spotting fake or misleading content, and keeping your accounts safe.
Why it helps you
Section titled “Why it helps you”It protects your money, your identity, and your peace — and helps you keep family or others from tracking you.
Good to have first
Section titled “Good to have first”Computer and Internet Basics.
This opens up
Section titled “This opens up”Safe use of everything online.
Where to get help
Section titled “Where to get help”Learn the basics of keeping accounts safe
Section titled “Learn the basics of keeping accounts safe”Secure Our World (CISA) Plain tips from the US government’s cybersecurity agency. It covers four habits: strong passwords, two-step login, updating your phone and computer, and spotting fake messages.
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Open the page and start with “Use Strong Passwords.”
- Good to know: No account needed.
Bitwarden password manager A password manager is an app that remembers all your passwords for you. You only remember one strong password. Bitwarden has a free plan.
- Cost: The free plan covers unlimited passwords on all your devices. A paid plan is about $20 a year, but you don’t need it.
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Make a free account. Pick a long main password that only you know, like four random words.
- Good to know: You need an email address. If you forget your main password, the company cannot get it back for you. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.
If someone may be watching or tracking you
Section titled “If someone may be watching or tracking you”Safety Net Project (techsafety.org) Guides from the National Network to End Domestic Violence. They explain spying apps (often called stalkerware), location tracking, phone safety, and how to save proof of abuse.
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone. Written for people facing abuse or stalking, including from family.
- How to start: Read “Technology Safety Plan” first. If you think your phone is being watched, read the guide on stalkerware.
- Good to know: Read these on a device the other person has never touched, like a library computer.
National Domestic Violence Hotline Trained advocates who can help you make a safety plan, including for your phone and accounts. This is not only for partners. It can help if a parent or group is controlling you.
- Cost: Free and private
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Call 1-800-799-7233. Or text START to 88788. Or chat on the website.
- Good to know: Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Safety Check for iPhone (Apple) A tool built into iPhones. It shows who can see your location, photos, and other info, and lets you stop sharing.
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone with an iPhone on iOS 16 or newer.
- How to start: Go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then scroll down to Safety Check.
- Good to know: “Emergency Reset” stops all sharing at once. The other person may notice. If you are not safe yet, talk to the Hotline before you change things.
If you were scammed or someone used your identity
Section titled “If you were scammed or someone used your identity”IdentityTheft.gov (FTC) The Federal Trade Commission’s official site for identity theft. It gives you a free, step-by-step recovery plan if someone opened accounts or used your name or Social Security number.
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Go to IdentityTheft.gov and answer the questions. In Spanish, use RobodeIdentidad.gov. To report in another language, call 1-877-438-4338 and press 3.
- Good to know: Interpreters are there 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC) Where you report a scam to the FTC. You’ll get next steps after you report.
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Go to the site and click to report. Or call 1-877-382-4357.
- Good to know: The FTC does not get your money back for you. Call your bank or card company right away to try to stop or undo a payment.
Tell what’s true online
Section titled “Tell what’s true online”RumorGuard (News Literacy Project) Real viral posts, fact-checked, with simple steps to check claims yourself. Good practice if you grew up with only one source of “truth.”
- Cost: Free
- Who can use it: Anyone.
- How to start: Open the site and read one recent post. Notice the questions it asks about who made it and what proof it has.
- Good to know: No account needed.
If you only do one thing first
Section titled “If you only do one thing first”Make your main email account safe. Your email is the key to almost every other account. Give it a new, long password that nobody else has ever known, including family. Then turn on two-step login in the email’s security settings. If someone else ever had your password, also check which phones and computers are still signed in, and sign them out.
Watch out for
Section titled “Watch out for”- Old passwords family may know. Birthdays, pet names, and old passwords are easy for people who know you to guess. Change them, and change your security questions too.
- “Private” browsing doesn’t hide you from spy apps. Incognito mode only keeps history off that device. If someone may have put an app on your phone, use a safer device, like a library computer.
- Deleting proof too fast. Before you block someone or delete scary messages, take screenshots. The Safety Net Project explains how. This proof can help later.
- Callers who say they are the government. The FTC and IRS will not threaten you or ask you to pay with gift cards, wire transfers, or crypto. Hang up.
- People who offer to “hack back” an account. These are almost always a second scam. Use the official “forgot password” or account recovery steps instead.