Staying safe online

The following information can help you stay safe online and help to cover your tracks. However it is possible for people with access to your computer to install software which logs all activity including websites visited and text typed. Therefore, the safest way to find information on the internet is to do it in a safe place. This could be at a Cheshire East library, a friend's house, or at work.

Email security

If an abuser has access to your email account, they may be able to read your incoming and outgoing mail. If you believe your account is secure, make sure you choose a password that an abuser will not be able to guess.

If an abuser sends you threatening or harassing email messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of this abuse. The messages may constitute an offence.

Clearing browser history / cache

If an abuser knows how to read your computer's history or cache (automatically saved web pages and graphics), they may be able to see information you have viewed recently on the internet. You can clear your history, delete your cookies (small pieces of code which can track websites that you have visited) in your browser's settings.

Internet Explorer

For older versions of Internet Explorer (7 or earlier)
Pull down the view menu (tools menu in explorer 7) , select Internet Options. On General page, under Temporary Internet Files, click on "Delete Files". Under History click on "Clear History."

For more recent versions of Internet Explorer
For Internet Explorer 8 and later, pull down Tools and click on Delete Browsing History. Choose the information you wish to delete and press Delete. Alternatively, press and hold down the CTRL+SHIFT+DEL keys to bring up this menu.

You can also choose In Private browsing by going to Tools and then selecting InPrivateBrowsing (or by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+P). A new window then opens and you should use that window for browsing. When InPrivateBrowsing is activated, this prevents Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data. Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default.

Firefox

Pull down the Tools menu, select Clear recent history. You can then choose how much information to clear. Alternatively, choose 'clear everything'.

Safari

Click on the 'settings' button (which looks like an asterisk) at the top right of the browser. Scroll down to 'reset safari' and then click on 'reset' and this should clear all saved data.

Google Chrome

Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar. Select Tools. Select Clear browsing data.In the dialog that appears, select the checkboxes for the types of information that you want to remove.Use the "Clear data from this period" menu to select the amount of data that you want to delete. Click Clear browsing data. Mac users: If you don't see the wrench icon, you can go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and select Chrome > Clear Browsing Data to open the Clear Browsing Data dialog.