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START HERE!!!! The reason for this guide

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START HERE!!!! The reason for this guide

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Hi, if you're reading this, you are probably traveling in Witch/Pagan circles online. If I were to guess, you may identify on social media as a witch, pagan, or related category. You may discuss your beliefs and practices, you may post photos, memes, etc. And, especially if you're in the US as I am, you are aware and at least somewhat concerned about recent political changes in the country.

he history of antagonism towards witchcraft, Wicca, Neopaganism (at least in the US) goes back pretty far. We are not on any big radars yet, but we probably will be. Also, if you are reading this, the odds that you are also in one or more marginalized identities is pretty high. Some of those identities are definitely on big radars.

Whoever you are, you are here because you're at least curious about this padlet. If you have been in the community a while, you have picked up on some tips/tricks and best practices for safety as a witch and/or pagan. If you have been in a long time, you are well aware that only a few decades ago people could AND DID get into legal trouble for their beliefs. If you are young or new to the community, you may not know this.

I do not judge you if this is news to you. I don't meant to scare you, but please know that people can weaponize Witchcraft, Wicca/other Neopagan beliefs (W&P for short) against people they don't like, just like they can weaponize sexuality, disability, gender, class, race, etc. etc. Do not take my word. Please search and learn about that. I will of course provide some sources to get you started.

This is not "The Burning Times". There are no marauding witchfinders on your main street. Until there are. So please be aware of the risks that being openly W&P online can being not just you but also your community. Please use this entire padlet as a jump-off point to learn about how social media works, how digital safety works, and spread that knowledge.

The purpose of this guide is to educate anyone in this community who is a) not very politically involved and b) not very aware of the risks involved in being out of the broom closet. What I have here are my own thoughts as well as resources from others about digital safety. My main focus is social media. Although this would probably scandalize community elders, a lot of W&P life takes place on social media.

Social media can be very fun, it can be educational, and it has certainly bought benefits to the W&P community. It's free, it's convenient, and you don't have to know a lot of tech skills to use it.

Over the years it has become so slick, so simple, so easy that its benefits are now its dangers. If it's easy for you as a pagan to find pagan interest groups on FB for instance, it's also easy for bad actors to find the same groups and harass people for being pagan. I genuinely don't know if this is a conversation "we" are having in the "community" right now, but it bears looking at.

I'm not here to tell you to get off social media. I'm not even doing that myself. I'm here to compile basic digital safety resources for a community that doesn't always stay grounded in the mundane world. I was not always careful online and I'm neither an expert or a model of "proper" digital safety. But we can learn together and protect ourselves the best we can.

In this padlet, you will see some resources here that use heavy terms like "threat modeling", "risk assessment", or "surveillance". I'm not trying to scare you here, but I want you to be aware of what these terms are referring to. In the "Thoughts" section, there are posts that explain these terms. Please read those first to help you understand what's going on here.

Blessed Be,

Liz

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In engineering and systems theory, redundancy is the intentional duplication of critical components or functions of a system with the goal of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the form of a backup or fail-safe, or to improve actual system performance (source: Wiki)

Why on earth is this here? I'm including redundancy in this discussion of digital safety to encourage to you back up your data in multiple places, not just a single social media platform. This includes contact info, files, photos/videos, etc. Imagine if Facebook went down. Gone. Kaput. What would that do to your social life? Imagine if Google Docs or MS Word disappeared. How would that impact you? These last 2 are not social media, but it's worth mentioning. Back up your digital footprint!

Please practice redundancy: be on multiple platforms. Have your stuff backed up onto an external hard drive or at least flash drive. Make sure you know where and how to contact your friends and community if it is no longer safe to use the normal app you always use.

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RACK and the idea of "safer" and "less safe"

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RACK and the idea of "safer" and "less safe"

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***CW: I am about to discuss something from the BDSM/Kink community. This is neither graphic nor sexual, oddly. But please be forwarned.

Also, I have included a lengthy quote from the RACK wikipedia entry - I am not linking because in the entry, you will see a photo of a man who has just engaged in some heavy impact play and he has superficial injuries. This is to make you aware that this is something you may not want to view or are not mature enough to view. If you accept that risk, you can go to Wikipedia yourself, but I ain't serving it up to you.

Some of the concepts from the Kink community are helpful here, specifically RACK. I had RACK in mind when I made that long list of "Daily Life on Social Media" questions to ask yourself. RACK stands for "Risk Aware Consensual Kink". It's not a license to do whatever in a kink encounter. It's actually quite the opposite: it invites you and your partner(s) to consider the risks inherent in BDSM and make sure all involved parties are aware and consenting to those risks. Ethical BDSM is almost exhaustively communicative as well it should be. Please read on to learn about RACK:

The philosophy for RACK consists of the following components:

Risk-aware: The partners involved are well-informed of the risks involved in the proposed activity.

Consensual: In light of those risks, both or all partners have, of sound mind, offered preliminary consent to engage in said activity.

Kink: Said activity can be classified as alternative sex.[5]

While "Safe, sane and consensual" (SSC) attempts to describe and differentiate BDSM from abuse in ways that are easy for the non-BDSM public to comprehend, RACK differs from it in that it acknowledges that nothing is ever 100% inherently safe. By acknowledging that what may be safe or sane to one person may not be considered the same to another, the RACK philosophy tends to be more inclusive of activities that others may consider as edgeplay.[6] There is no "safe" or "not safe" within RACK, only "safer" and "less safe."[7]

This highlighted portion is why I included material on RACK in this padlet. If you are practicing witchcraft and/or espousing Pagan beliefs, you need to know that being out about these identities is not without risk. In the US alone, there are still anti-witchcraft laws on the books. There are still many places where being ANY religion other than Christian can result in discrimination socially, professionally, and legally. Unless you literally never breathe a word about your beliefs, never buy a single item, never interact with another W&P, never so much as put crescent moon emoji on your profile, there is no "safe". There is only "safer" and "less safe" on social media. It's up to you to become aware of risks and be considerate with that awareness and your own actions.

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From the Wiki:

Threat modeling is a process by which potential threats, such as structural vulnerabilities or the absence of appropriate safeguards, can be identified and enumerated, and countermeasures prioritized.[1]

Ed note: In plain English, this is going over something, like a building, a business, a process, etc. and seeing where potential weak spots are. It also attempts to come up with an educated guess about who/what may try to do harm and what that harm wold be like, so you can be better prepared.

The purpose of threat modeling is to provide defenders with a systematic analysis of what controls or defenses need to be included, given the nature of the system, the probable attacker's profile, the most likely attack vectors, and the assets most desired by an attacker. Threat modeling answers questions like "Where am I most vulnerable to attack?", "What are the most relevant threats?", and "What do I need to do to safeguard against these threats?".

Conceptually, most people incorporate some form of threat modeling in their daily life and don't even realize it.[citation needed] Commuters use threat modeling to consider what might go wrong during the morning journey to work and to take preemptive action to avoid possible accidents. Children engage in threat modeling when determining the best path toward an intended goal while avoiding the playground bully. In a more formal sense, threat modeling has been used to prioritize military defensive preparations since antiquity.

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Keeping Silent or Telling the World (Witchcraft for dummies)

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Keeping Silent or Telling the World (Witchcraft for dummies)

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Some people cautiously hide their beliefs and never tell others about their involvement in Wicca — not their families, not their friends, and certainly not their employers. They hide their altars, keep their books hidden in drawers instead of displayed on shelves, and find an excuse to leave in a hurry when people start talking about religion. They only share their beliefs with like-minded Wiccans, and sometimes with no one at all.

Other people, from the moment they encounter Wicca, begin telling everyone they know about the wonderful new world that they have discovered. They heap books on their friends, they hang pentacles in their cubicles at work, and they wear bold T-shirts proudly displaying their devotion to Wicca. They're proud, and they want the world to know it.

People who keep silent aren't just being paranoid. Most Wiccans are well versed in the long and brutal history of persecution against real and alleged Witches. Discrimination and persecution continue today around the world. In the United States, Wiccans are fired from jobs, lose custody of their children, are discriminated against in housing, or are forced to make other painful sacrifices because of their religion.

Some people want to keep silent because they worry about being put in a position where they are forced to divulge the names of fellow Wiccans. In addition, some Wiccans are alarmed by the escalating use of technology to collect and reveal very private information about individuals.

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Some people cautiously hide their beliefs and never tell others about their involvement in Wicca - not their families, not their friends, and certainly not their employers. They hide their altars, keep their books hidden in drawers instead of displayed on shelves, and find an excuse to leave in a hurry when people start talking about religion. They only share their beliefs with like-minded Wiccans, and sometimes with no one at all.

Other people, from the moment they encounter Wicca, begin telling everyone they know about the wonderful new world that they have discovered. They heap books on their friends, they hang pentacles in their cubicles at work, and they wear bold T-shirts proudly displaying their devotion to Wicca. They're proud, and they want the world to know it.

Both of these positions have merit.

People who keep silent aren't just being paranoid. Most Wiccans are well versed in the long and brutal history of persecution against real and alleged Witches. Discrimination and persecution continue today around the world. In the United States, Wiccans are fired from jobs, lose custody of their children, are discriminated against in housing, or are forced to make other painful sacrifices because of their religion.

Some people want to keep silent because they worry about being put in a position where they are forced to divulge the names of fellow Wiccans. In addition, some Wiccans are alarmed by the escalating use of technology to collect and reveal very private information about individuals.

So, quite reasonably, some Wiccans choose to limit the number of people who know about their religion and could cause them trouble - or even put them in danger - now or in the future.

Keep in mind that you should never ask someone directly whether he or she is a Wiccan or a Witch. Wait until the information is volunteered. If a person mentions the subject in conversation, show that you are open minded and receptive, but wait for the person to confide in you. And this advice goes double if others can hear your conversation. Never, and I mean never, "out" anyone. Don't divulge to others that someone is Wiccan without first getting permission in private. Please respect that some people want to keep their religion to themselves.

In addition to concerns about discrimination or persecution, some Wiccans consider Wicca to be a mystery religion that should be kept secret. A mystery religion is one in which the Deity is revealed through individual, personal experience. These events are kept secret in order to preserve their power and significance. Also, according to this view, some things are best taught person to person and should not be made public. In addition, certain knowledge and techniques (magic, for example) may be dangerous if used by people who have not had proper training or who may intend to harm others.

People who choose to openly share their beliefs also have some very good reasons for doing so. Personal empowerment as well as physical, mental, and emotional strength are central to Wicca. Some Wiccans feel that living in fear of discrimination or conflict is contrary to their beliefs and limits their ability to practice their religion. Being open and honest about Wicca builds self-confidence, which in turn makes magical work more effective and makes ritual more fulfilling.

Some Wiccans believe that keeping their spirituality hidden encourages persecution and puts Wiccans in more danger, not less. Many feel that denying their religion dishonors the Goddess and the God. They also believe that silence dishonors the Witches and alleged Witches who have been killed in the name of Witchcraft.

Most Wiccans, though, find themselves at a happy medium between these two extremes. Most share their beliefs with family and friends. A smaller number are open about their religion in the workplace. Everyone has to determine his or her own level of comfort.

Many people find Wicca to be liberating and joyous. In their enthusiasm for their new religion, new Wiccans may be tempted to chatter on about their religion to anyone who will listen, without sizing up the person or the situation. If you are considering Wicca as your spiritual path, do some studying, get the facts, and make up your own mind about Wicca. Then, before you start moving that 50-pound pentacle into your cubicle at work, give some careful consideration to whom you want to tell and what you want to say about Wicca.

Some Wiccan traditions advise that newbies study and train for a year and a day before disclosing their participation in Wicca to their personal communities. (A year and a day is a traditional time period in Wicca. The year-and-a-day approach is to ensure that Wiccans prepare well and consider all consequences before making major changes in their lives.)

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Keeping Silent or Telling the World: The Wiccan Dilemma

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Some people cautiously hide their beliefs and never tell others about their involvement in Wicca — not their families, not their friends, and certainly not their employers. They hide their altars, keep their books hidden in drawers instead of displayed on shelves, and find an excuse to leave in a hurry when people start talking about religion. They only share their beliefs with like-minded Wiccans, and sometimes with no one at all.

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DISCRIMINATION AND MODERN PAGANISM (Bachelors' thesis)

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DISCRIMINATION AND MODERN PAGANISM (Bachelors' thesis)

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One Million Moms Vs Disney/Marvel’s “Queer Witches” 2024

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One Million Moms Vs Disney/Marvel’s “Queer Witches” 2024

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One Million Moms Vs Disney/Marvel’s “Queer Witches” - Joe.My.God.

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Via email from hate group leader Monica Cole: Warning to all parents! Disney+ will soon release its new Marvel Studios series, Agatha All Along, a spin-off to Wandavision, that will include queer witches. Agatha All Along actress Sasheer Zamata said in a recent interview with Variety that this is the “gayest project Marvel has ever …

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Still happening: Fearmongering against W&P in US politics from 2024

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Still happening: Fearmongering against W&P in US politics from 2024

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GOP Senate Candidate: I’m Running To Stop Witchcraft - Joe.My.God.

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The Insider reports: Hung Cao, a Republican running for US Senate in Virginia, warned in an interview this week that “witchcraft” has “taken over” in some parts of California. After losing to Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton by less than ten percentage points in 2022, Cao is seeking to take on Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who’s …

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Exploring The Legal Landscape Of Modern Witchcraft

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Exploring The Legal Landscape Of Modern Witchcraft

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Exploring The Legal Landscape Of Modern Witchcraft

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Religious discrimination against modern pagans - Wikipedia

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This is a brief article about teaching digital security with a "harm reduction" approach.

If you've never heard "harm reduction", it is a term often used in public health and the larger medical field to indicate practices professionals can use to reduce the harm done by problems like drug addiction. Harm reduction's aim for addiction is not so much ending the addiction but instead keeping people safe while they use and reducing various forms of danger they face due to their addictions. It is a very effective approach that can be applied to a multitude of fields. Here, it implies that when someone teaches you about digital safety, their focus should be not on scaring you or making you completely change your computers or digital life, but instead help you understand tech and empower you to make yourself safer online.

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Navigate the complex process of teaching your learners how to avoid risky security practices, while providing a safe learning environment. Harm reduction strategies ensure you are able to help them explore their options and improve their habits.

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How does a browser work?

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Review how web browsing security works and the various ways you and your students can protect your browsing information from being viewed. Improve your existing browsing security habits with a suite of tools that provide protection in different circumstances.

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The Minimum Viable Teaching—When You Have No Time To Teach or They Have No Time to Listen

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The Minimum Viable Teaching—When You Have No Time To Teach or They Have No Time to Listen

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This is exactly what it says - basic general actions for increased safety online from the Security Education Companion (part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation).

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Sometimes there's no time for a full digital security walk-through. Your audience is suddenly about to face an unexpected set of risks. They could get overwhelmed or intimidated with too much information. They're short on time. You might have only one brief moment to make a difference, and you want to take full advantage of it.

Some security is always better than no security. You can do a lot to improve someone's basic security by walking them through some basic steps, and giving them some general advice.

At EFF, we're often asked to give advice in an incredibly short period of time: a TV or radio interview, or someone asking for help at one of our booths. Here's what we try to say in one minute or less. It's a concentrated form of advice. You could easily expand it into a half-day of teaching.

"You can turn on encryption on your Android, iPhone, iPad or Mac. Pick a long password made up of six or more random words to lock your computer, or six or more numbers as a PIN to lock your phone. Don't reuse passwords! Use a password manager , or write down your passwords on paper and store it in your wallet instead. Turn on "two-factor" or "two-step" authentication on your Google, Facebook or other online accounts: this will help stop those logins from being hacked. Avoid clicking on strange links or email attachments. To send messages safely and securely, use an end-to-end encrypted messenger app like Signal or WhatsApp. If you want to be anonymous online, try using the Tor Browser."

Here's our thinking about each of those pieces of advice, and how you might expand on them, given more time.

Turn on encryption.

We say "turn on encryption" because that phrase typed into a search engine gives you good links to general instructions on encryption. (Unfortunately we can't say "turn on encryption" on Windows, because only Windows Professional offers full disk encryption .)

Pick a long password.

"Long" is more understandable than "strong." PIN is understood as the number that locks your phone, so you can extend this by including it in the same sentence to include desktop PC or laptop device logins. "Random" is a bit technical, but gets across the idea that it shouldn't just be a familiar sentence. We spend a lot of time arguing internally about whether we should say "six" or "seven" words or digits!

Don't reuse your passwords!

Reusing passwords is one of the top ways that accounts can be compromised, but it's hard to stop people from doing it. Take this opportunity to introduce people to password managers. The phrase "password manager" may be new to people. You can introduce them to a number of password manager guides, such as the ones on SSD. Additionally, the surprising advice that one can write down passwords and keep them in their wallet often sticks in people's minds, and gets across how bad password reuse is.

If people have questions about why passwords matter, you can show websites like https://www.HaveIBeenPwned.com/ and explain how password dumps can affect regular people.

Turn on two-factor authentication.

In an attempt to "avoid jargon," almost every service uses a different term for two-factor authentication . We say "two-factor or two-step" to imply that it might be called a number of different things. We also give the basic reason why you should turn on two-factor authentication. Understanding why two-factor might protect you is difficult to understand, but the benefit is not.

If people have questions about how to tell what accounts offer two-factor authentication, direct them to websites like https://www.twofactorauth.org/.

Avoid clicking on strange links or email attachments.

We say this to reinforce the idea that you are most vulnerable to phishing when presented with links or attachments, but we have long internal debates about this advice too. Can anyone really go through life not clicking on any links or email attachments? Can anyone confidently tell when a link or attachment is "strange" (i.e. a fraudulent attempt to trick you into accepting malware onto your computer?). When given the opportunity to go into more detail, we often suggest that the recipients of strange attachments or links verify the weird email with the supposed sender in person or over the phone.

If you have better suggestions, let us know!

Use an end-to-end encrypted messenger app like Signal or WhatsApp.

Our first product mention! Break out the ™ symbols! As we explain in How to Recommend Tools, recommending specific software or hardware is complicated, but everyone in a training wants a concrete suggestion. Signal was one of the first audited, open source, messaging devices with a strong theoretical cryptographic foundation, backed by an organization specifically dedicated to providing secure end-to-end encryption . It suffers from some of the problems of a small and underfunded software project, but it is reasonably safe from compromise and has a broad user base.

WhatsApp's parent company, Facebook, is not trusted by everyone, but the client itself is end-to-end encrypted, and (we believe) is unlikely to be undermined without a large and highly critical expert audience spotting the problem.

By offering two alternatives, we try to imply that the important thing here is "secure messaging app" rather than a particular secure messaging app. We put this advice at the end of our list, because at this point no one will remember much beyond the brand names.

To be anonymous online, use the Tor Browser.

People are often more curious about anonymity than fighting surveillance (they are more concerned about being generally exposed online than specifically monitored by the authorities).

Staying anonymous online involves more than just using Tor, but the Tor project does a good job of warning people who download their software about this. We try to convey that Tor is a solution for anonymity, and not one for defending against surveillance or other side-effects.

"Use Tor; Use Signal" is not always the best advice, but if you start searching for advice on Tor and Signal, there's a good chance you will be directed to more detailed guidance by experts who know what they're talking about.

Some other short resources:

EFF's one pager on Surveillance Self-Defense:
https://www.eff.org/files/2017/06/19/ssd-one-sheet.pdf
Slightly longer advice with links.

Access Now's First look at Digital Security.
https://www.accessnow.org/a-first-look-at-digital-security/ https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2017/05/A-first-look-at-digital-security_DigitalCopy.pdf
Not specific advice, but an excellent, graphically-friendly way of getting someone quickly thinking about what they want to protect.

Seven Steps to Digital Security
https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/seven-steps-digital-security
A general guide from us that summarizes some general digital security principles.

Tech Solidarity Basic Security Precautions
https://techsolidarity.org/resources/basic_security.htm
A straightforward set of instructions that concentrates on U.S.-based activists and journalists.

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The Minimum Viable Teaching—When You Have No Time To Teach or They Have No Time to Listen

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Sometimes, there isn’t enough time to give nuanced advice. For those times, you may want a short pitch on security.

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Doxxing Prevention Harm Reduction Training

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Doxxing Prevention Harm Reduction Training

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This is a guide written by/for sex workers but it is helpful and approachable. You may not be facing the same challenges, but there is so much useful info here for basic as well as advanced safety.

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Digital security is a form of harm reduction. In this training we share tips and tools on how to lock down social media to make any revealing or personal information more difficult for malicious actors to find. If you get doxxed, it is NOT your fault.

As we discuss in the training, everyone's threat models look different. What works for some people, may not work for you! No one knows you, or your needs better than you. Please take what actions and advice work for you! What follows is information and SUGGESTIONS based upon our experiences and research.

What is Doxxing?

Doxxing or Doxing is typically a cyber attack in which someone with malicious intent releases personal, private, or stigmatized information about someone without their consent, knowledge or control. Doxxing is a form of abuse and harassment in which information is collected and shared through a combination of web searches, reverse image searches, combing through social media, use of the way back machine, publicly available databases, hacking and social engineering. Doxxing rarely takes place because of information found on a single website. It is most often piecing together bits of information from all sorts of open source information found online.

Doxxing can often leave an individual feeling fearful, vulnerable and alone. So we want to share some concrete tips on how you can take action to protect your private information online! All of this is covered more in depth in the training, but below are a few tips and resources if you are just browsing quickly. For more information on digital security practices, you can check out our other training where we go more in depth on threat modeling here.

How can I prevent Doxxing?

Consider the following to prevent doxxing. Again, whatever works best for you and the threat model you've devised!

Setting your profile to private

Using an alias on public social media

Using an avatar that is not a face pic

Turning off location data and metadata on social media, your camera and your phone.

Disable tagging in photos

Cover face, tattoos, and scars when protesting (or in photos used for advertisements)

Turn your phone off or don't bring it to protests.

Google your search. Reverse google search your images. See what a malicious actor might be able to find, and work on making it harder to find.

Tips On Attending a Protest

Turn off your phone (stingrays are absolutely present) if you must bring it.

There is evidence that phones can still be tracked if they are off

Use cash

Cover your face, hair, tattoos

Only write phone numbers of trusted peoples on unexposed skin

Locking down Social Media

opt for higher privacy and security settings

they often use the same language and icons to display those options, get used to recognizing them for what they are on all your social media accounts

Turn off location services

Avoid cross contamination of data between apps

Separate registry email addresses

Compartmentalize how you access them (diff browser sessions, switching VPN location, scrubbing exif metadata from images you share)

Enable two-factor authentication

Avoid using one time sms codes, intelligent targeted attacks can find ways to intercept that

Get a password manager to create and remember complex passwords

Again, these are all suggestions. Not all of these suggestions are possible for everyone. You know what works best for you!

Doxxing Prevention Harm Reduction

In this training we talk about what doxxing is, how you can protect yourselves at protests or as sex working folks. We talk about how digital security is both a form of self care and community care (much like safer sex practices). This training focuses on locking down your security settings on Twitter and Instagram.

What To Do if You've Been Doxxed?

lock all your accounts / turn them private / deactivate them (your discretion which to do)

notify your trusted network - remember that they may be implicated

they can assist in monitoring your affected accounts

they can review their own threat model and practices

they can help you develop shared strategies

create an incident log (a log featuring date, time, description, and result of each incident. This will inform how you restructure your own threat model, compare with others who have been similarly attacked.)

Take a fine tooth comb to all your accounts:

Change passwords for all, each is unique and random and long

Review the privacy and security settings, raise the bar

Notify their support staff

Community Data Hygiene Guidelines:

Establish a secure, end to end encrypted platform for group communication

We recommend Keybase for larger groups and file sharing, signal for ease of use

Set rules for how media can be shared online: always check with the group first, always scrub the metadata, don't use real names

Do a group threat modeling exercise

Look on eff.org/sec for a handy guide

Set up an incident response plan

Sometimes the least technical practices can have the biggest impact.

Chaff - polluting data pools by filling them with useless bits.
Steganography - hiding data in plain sight. secret messages hidden within plain speech, code words hidden in metadata of images

Resources on Doxxing mentioned in the training

Plugins for privacy

Professional Support for Doxxing Self Defense

If the attacks are overwhelming, massively orchestrated, potentially very dangerous, seek professional help.

Opt Out Links
https://www.beenverified.com/faq/opt-out/
http://www.checkpeople.com/optout
https://www.instantcheckmate.com/optout/
https://www.intelius.com/optout.php
http://www.peekyou.com/about/contact/optout/index.php
http://www.peoplefinders.com/manage/
https://www.peoplesmart.com/optout-signup
https://pipl.com/directory/remove/
http://secure.privateeye.com/help/default.aspx#26
http://www.publicrecords360.com/optout.html
http://radaris.com/page/how-to-remove
http://www.spokeo.com/opt_out/new
http://www.usa-people-search.com/manage/default.aspx
https://www.truthfinder.com/opt-out/
https://nuwber.com/removal/link
https://onerep.com/optout
http://www.familytreenow.com/contact

Milcah Halili code@milcah.dev @milcahhalili Twitter/Instagram

Daly daly@eff.org

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Doxxing Prevention Harm Reduction Training - Hacking//Hustling

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Digital security is a form of harm reduction. In this training we share tips and tools on how to lock down social media to make any revealing or personal information more difficult for malicious actors to find. If you get doxxed, it is NOT your fault.

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These are brief video explainers about some really basic digital safety practices.

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PEN America, the Online News Association, and the International Women's Media Foundation have teamed up to create Digital Safety Snacks, step-by-step videos to help you defend yourself against online abuse. We'll explain how to protect your most sensitive accounts from hackers and how to dox yourself before someone else does. We want to empower you to feel safer and more secure while maintaining the public profile you need to do your job.

As journalists, we're increasingly expected to have an online presence and engage on social media, which puts us at risk of abuse. Reporters from marginalized backgrounds-including women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people-are especially at risk. And now, with the United States heading toward the midterm elections, odds are high that attacks against journalists-online and off-will escalate. Abusive trolls join forces to send hateful messages, impersonate, hack accounts, and publish sensitive personal information (aka doxing). Their ultimate goal is to intimidate, discredit, and silence journalists and undermine press freedom. But there are concrete steps each of us can take to protect ourselves and fight back.

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In classrooms, school districts, and libraries across the country, the freedom to read is under assault by restrictions and bans on books. Join us in defending this liberty by taking action and making your voice heard.

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Important first step: Threat/risk level assessment (source: Digital Security for Activists)

Dia Kayyali, writing for the Center for Media Justice, explains that a threat modeling or risk assessment requires asking yourself the following five questions and recommends taking out pen and paper, brainstorming and consider discussing these questions along with the people you work closely with, since security is a collective effort:

What do I need to protect?

Who do I need to protect it from?

How much do they want that information, and how easy is it for them to get it?

What happens if they do get it?

What am I willing to do to stop that from happening?

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We Keep Us Safe_ LGBTQ Digital Safety Guide

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GLAAD | GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance.

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We Keep Us Safe: LGBTQ Digital Safety Guide | GLAAD

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For LGBTQ activists, organizations, journalists, public figures, and anyone who spends time online — the guidelines are just a few easy best practices you can implement to protect yourself.

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This is "the Wikipedia for activists" - it's a big resource with a lot of levels of information, advice, best practices. Like anything else in this "higher 'cost'" section, it can be overwhelming at first so go slow and look for sections on digital security (click the image or this URL: https://activisthandbook.org/tools/security ) and when you're ready, you can search related terms.

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Digital security for activists | Activist Handbook

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Stop using Chrome. Use Brave, Firefox or Duck Duck Go. Understand that everything you do on your phone can be tracked.

Just be aware that most of what we are doing and saying is being tracked by someone

-@catzmeow.bsky.social

Facebook and Google’s pervasive surveillance poses an unprecedented danger to human rights (2019)

Why You should Delete Google Chrome (from 2021)

Google Starts Tracking All Your Devices in 6 Weeks (2025)

Calling women ‘household objects’ now permitted on Facebook after Meta updated its guidelines (2025)

Look at the years of these articles...look how fast we got to "household objects".

Everything you are doing online, especially in Chrome or on Facebook/Instagram, is tracked, logged, and easily searched by someone working for very large, very rich, very politically connected corporations. Other than going completely offline, there is no "safe" option. Learn about this, become aware, learn some safer use rules, and share them with others.

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Do you need to talk about it on social media?

Do you need to share that on social media?

Do you have to check in at an event on social media?

Do you need to take that photo?

Do you need to post that photo?

Do you need to tag others in that photo?

Are you aware of where to find basic privacy settings on your platform?

Do you need to repost that?

Do you need to friend that person or join that group?

Do you need to like that post?

Do you know how to vet people?

Do you know the muting/blocking options on your platform and the difference between them?

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The first question is the best question:

Do you have a funny feeling about this person? If you do, LISTEN. BLOCK. Don't just unfollow. Let trusted others know.

Is this a person you met in real life?

How do you know them?

Do any of your friends know them?

What have your interactions been like?

Do they have content on their account?

Does that content look real?

What people/groups/tags do they follow?

Do they have a profile image?

Is that profile image of a person or a symbol?

If it's a symbol, has that symbol been co-opted by hate groups?

Does that person's posts talk about violence, even against awful people?

Does that person's content encourage others towards violent speech or action?

Does that person talk about protests/actions?

Does that person ask people if they're going to XYZ protest or action?

Does that person want to "burn it all down"?

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Did you put it thru the CRAP test? (source: Houston Community College)

Currency

When was it originally published?

• Has it been updated or revised since then?

Reliability

• Did the author use any evidence, and show their sources with citations and references, or list of sources?

• Can you verify the information through other sources?

Author

• Who is the author, and what are their credentials?

• Who is the publisher or sponsor?

• What does the URL end with? (.gov, .org, .edu, .com?)

Purpose/Point of View

What is the author's motivation for publishing the resource?

• Is the author trying to inform, persuade, sell to, or entertain you?

• Are there advertisements or links to buy things? If so, are they marked clearly or sponsored by the resource?