Can I Get a Vaccine and Keep My Information Private?

A photograph of a COVID-19 vaccine vial and syringe.

Vaccines are top of mind for so many of us these days. When will I be able to get one? When will my family and friends get theirs?

One question that many survivors are also asking is, how can I get a COVID-19 vaccine and make sure my location information stays private? While state and territory immunization registries have been around for many years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought them to the forefront, as local governments work to coordinate vaccine distribution. Check out Safety Net’s new resource Vaccine Registries & Survivor Privacy for detailed information about how vaccine registries work and the privacy options that are available.

Safety, Privacy, Security, & Access: Four Pillars of Consumer and Survivor Wellbeing

Stalking Awareness Month Graphic

As we commemorate National Stalking Awareness Month and Data Privacy Day today, we recognize four pillars to ensuring both consumer and survivor well-being: Safety, Privacy, Security, and Access. These pillars are the foundation that guides our work every day in helping to safeguard technology safety for all. While all of these go hand-in-hand, we’ll look at each one below. 

 Safety: In today’s digital age, survivors have an exhausting list of considerations to protect their information and their safety. Whether protecting location, online activity, home, and work addresses, or children’s whereabouts, so much of this is critical for a survivor’s safety. Survivors have a right to technology and shouldn’t have to choose between staying safe and using a device or platform. Many people rely on the internet to shop, look for jobs, search for resources, maybe even conduct business as part of their livelihood. Strong privacy and security policies and settings, along with access to technology, help keep all of us safe.   

 Privacy: Today is Data Privacy Day, but survivors and consumers alike always have a need for privacy. Whether a person wants to make sure that their accounts are private from the prying eyes of family members or future employers, or survivors of stalking who need to know the platforms they use do not share information with others, privacy benefits everyone. Strong privacy policies, settings, and protections mean that survivors and consumers can have one more way to take back control over their digital lives.

Security: Having a secure way to communicate with trusted individuals, seek online resources or help, or have a place to store legal, health, or other personal documents is incredibly important. As consumers, we share our information when using online spaces, services, and apps and hope that it remains secure. Strong security measures help ensure that personal information does not get into the wrong hands. 

 Access: Building a platform that is intentional in centering the needs of survivors and consumers means considering the accessibility needs of those who live with disabilities, speak another language, or have culturally-specific privacy and safety needs. Built from these perspectives, technology can be used by as many survivors and consumers as possible. Accessibility barriers that keep survivors from getting assistance can be a significant safety risk. Making sure that we have accessible products, platforms, and technologies should be a core tenet of our work.

Building and using technology with all this in mind can be challenging. For survivors, it can be exhausting and terrifying. Fortunately, more and more online platforms and services are building in End-to-End (E2E) Encryption as the default functionality to protect the privacy and security of users and their data. We’re always happy to see these announcements and even more thrilled when the platform has clearly also considered safety and accessibility!

E2E Encryption can be a little hard to understand, but it’s a really important feature to ensure privacy – and if you’re a victim service provider, to protect confidentiality. Safety Net worked with the Internet Society on a new resource to help survivors and service providers understand E2E Encryption more. Whether you’re a technology start-up, a victim service provider, or a survivor – understanding and using E2E encryption can be an important step to prioritizing safety, privacy, security, and ensuring access.

These four pillars guide us in this work and allow survivors and consumers the ability to harness the power to remain online in a safe and meaningful way.

Voting Safely in the 2020 Election

This year has proven to be a year like none other. The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every facet of our lives and survivors have faced unprecedented hurdles. Participation in the 2020 general election will be no different. 

Voting is a fundamental right and civic participation is an essential key to maintaining the health of a democracy. At the same time, it is crucial that barriers to voting are eliminated and safety and privacy are always ensured. There are many things for survivors to consider. These range from figuring out how to juggle work and child care,  to protecting their health when casting a ballot in person , to safety plan so that they are able to cast their ballot without the abuser escalating their behaviors,  and to understanding voting requirements in their state or territory and how those processes may impact their privacy and safety.

Voter registration privacy (or the lack thereof) differs across states and territories. Some allow people to check their voter registration status online, which sometimes includes their current address. (A list of state-specific links to check your voter status can be accessed at vote.org – you can look up your registration without sharing your personal information with the vote.org website, just keep scrolling down past the welcome and you’ll see a list of specific states. You can use this tool to check that you’re registered correctly, and you can also use it to see what someone else could learn about you if they know some of your basic information already.)

For many survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking, privacy is inextricably connected to safety. Physical safety, emotional safety, economic safety; the list goes on. And it’s important to remember that privacy can be just as important to survivors who are still connected to their abuser as it is for those who have successfully fled.

With all this in mind, we have updated our Voting & Survivor Privacy resource that takes a deeper dive into the topics above, including information about voter registration privacy, online voter registration, automatic voter registration, and a new section on voting safely and privately. Read through the resource and share it with survivors in your life, so they can get out and vote in the upcoming election and beyond!

2020 US Census: Considerations for Survivors of Domestic Violence

This month, the US Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency, is mailing forms to all households across the country, as they work to collect demographic data on everyone residing in the United States. The count is mandated by the US Constitution and is conducted every 10 years. The 2020 Census counts the population in the United States and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Each home will receive an invitation to respond to a short questionnaire—online, by phone, or by mail—between March 12-20.

Providing private information about where you live and who you live with can prompt concerns about privacy and safety for survivors of domestic violence. This is especially true for those who’ve left their abuser and are living in a shelter, those who have relocated to a new home and are working to keep their address private, and those who have enrolled in state address confidentiality programs.

We’re happy to announce the release of a new resource crafted for survivors and victim advocates, 2020 US Census: Considerations for Survivors, that provides important information related to the US Census and key safety and privacy considerations for survivors of domestic violence. Please check it out and feel free to reach out to us with any related questions!

Follow the embedded link to read the Census Bureau Statement on Coronavirus and the 2020 Census. Stay up to date on the US Census Bureau’s response to COVID-19 by checking their Newsroom

Keeping Survivors in the Driver’s Seat: Our Focus on Confidentiality

As professionals and experts in the field, advocates go to work every day helping survivors reclaim their lives. But it can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day rush of the work, and sometimes we forget that we aren’t the driver of this journey - we’re just passengers along for the ride. When we get off track, we start to think a survivor should automatically give us the information we ask for, that they should trust us to collect and share their information as we see fit because we’re experts and we know what’s best. But we have to put the brakes on that thinking, and remember that survivors are the experts of their own experience. It’s our job to help educate them about their options, and the potential impacts and outcomes of their choices, so that they can make an informed decision. When we do this, we’re giving them the keys, ensuring they’re the ones who are in control and driving the bus,* and that we’re doing our job by helping them navigate!

Safety Net kept very busy over the summer and early fall of 2019, working to help organizations across the field improve their understanding and practice of confidentiality. To help agencies ensure they’re providing survivor-driven services and developing policies that support a survivor’s right to privacy, we hosted four national webinars, facilitated a listening session for state and territorial coalitions on mandated reporting, launched new materials, and held an outstanding two-day conference– Strictly Confidential: Protecting Survivor Privacy in Federally Funded Programs.  

Summer 2019 Highlights

Webinars:
For anyone who missed the webinars, and for those who’d like to revisit them, you can check them out using the links below:  

• Fundamentals & Framework: Understanding Confidentiality & Our Obligations

• Data Breach Notifications & Survivor Confidentiality

• Survivor Data: Collection, Retention & Deletion Best Practices

• Official Demands for Information: Subpoenas, Warrants, Court Orders, Auditors & Monitors

Resources:
Newly-created materials, which were all added to our Confidentiality Toolkit, include:

• Data Breaches & Victim Service Providers: Considerations for Developing Effective Policies

• VAWA Grant Conditions, Victim Privacy, and Effective Oversight Procedures

• Summary of U.S. State and Territorial Laws Related to Advocate Confidentiality & Privilege

National Conference:
The 2019 Strictly Confidentiality conference was in such high demand that we had to make a wait list and get creative with seat set-up! We loved seeing everyone so interested and engaged in wanting to learn more about survivor-centered best practices. Advocates, attorneys, court officials, and others came from across the country to learn more about how they can ensure they’re providing survivor-driven services. The conference content was designed to help advocates navigate complex federal confidentiality obligations, through in-depth analysis, peer sharing, and scenario problem solving. Participants explored the many layers of privacy, confidentiality obligations, and their intersections with technology in a tangible way. Topics included:

• Understanding and applying legal confidentiality obligations

• Navigating the mandated reporting and confidentiality overlap

• Building community collaborations while maintaining confidentiality

• Upholding confidentiality in emergency situations

• Navigating language access and confidentiality

• Handling official third party demands for survivor information

• Selecting and using databases

• Implementing best practices for agency use of technology

• Minimizing risk via intakes and data retention policies

• Understanding data breach notification laws

• Ensuring valid releases of information.

We hope all this new content is helpful to service providers and we look forward to hearing your feedback so we can continue to improve this work. We’re also grateful to our grant partners at Danu Center’s Confidentiality Institute, to our funders at the Office on Violence Against Women, and to the advocates who are out there doing this work every day. When we provide services based on confidentiality best practices, we’re helping survivors understand they have a right to privacy, that they remain in control of that privacy, and they can make the decisions that work best for them.

*The “survivor drives the bus” phrase was coined by our grant partner, Alicia Aiken, Director of Danu Center’s Confidentiality Institute :)

New Resource - Judicial Toolkit: Resources on Technology Abuse

We are pleased to announce a brand-new toolkit on technology abuse for judges and judicial officers. As technology becomes more pervasive and is misused to stalk, harass, and abuse, it is more important than ever that judges and judicial officers understand how technology is misused in the context of these cases. Within this toolkit are guides, quizzes, and resources, written specifically for judges and judicial officers on navigating digital evidence and understanding technology misuse in the context of domestic violence.

This toolkit also contains resources on how judges can use technology to enhance efficiency in and improve access to the courts, increase accessibility for self-represented litigants, and examine the changing legal landscape as it relates to the rise of cyberviolence cases.

You can access the Judicial toolkit here.

Don’t forget to check out our other toolkit, specifically the Legal Systems toolkit, written for criminal justice professionals, and the Technology Safety and Privacy toolkit for survivors.

© 2019 National Network to End Domestic Violence, Safety Net Project. This toolkit is funded through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this web site and toolkit (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).

New Toolkit: Working with Survivors using Text or Chat

Safety Net is happy to announce our new Digital Services Toolkit, filled with resources for local programs who are considering providing services via text, chat, video call, and other digital technologies. Whether your program is just curious, in the process of selecting a vendor, or wanting to improve the privacy and safety of services you already provide, this Toolkit is for you!

The resources include three sections:

• Assessing capacity and readiness for digital services

• Choosing a platform and a vendor

• Best practices for digital services

In addition to written resources, we’ll be offering a series of webinars in late Spring covering these topics, as well as tailored technical assistance to answer any of your program’s questions. Contact us for more information.

Addressing Technology Misuse in the Context of Sexual Assault

Two new resources from Safety Net discuss Technology Misuse in Sexual Assault, and offer advocates and others working with survivors a tool for Assessing Technology Misuse and Privacy Concerns.

As technology becomes woven into every aspect of society, offenders misuse the technology in sexual assault. Just as the dynamics of sexual assault differ from domestic violence, the misuse of technology looks different when sexual assault occurs outside of an intimate partner relationship.

• A youth group leader might misuse online communities to groom victims.
• A supervisor might threaten to change an employee’s file in a company database.
• A caretaker might limit access to help-seeking through technology.
• A medical provider might threaten to share embarrassing information or images gathered in the course of treatment.
• Surveillance cameras and security could be misused by a landlord to gain footage of or access to a victim.
• A law enforcement officer could misuse a database to target potential victims.

More understood examples include the explosion in the production and sharing of child pornography, or nonconsensual sharing of intimate images or footage of sexual assault of adults over the Internet.

Privacy Concerns

In addition, sexual assault cases in the public eye can generate distressing comments on news stories and social media, and some survivors may become the target of online harassment, doxing or other retaliation.

Technology and Root Causes

Online spaces amplify existing attitudes and beliefs, and so can support rape culture through memes, viral posts, revenge porn sites, etc. At the same time, online advocacy and activism efforts have used online spaces to counter rape culture through awareness, events, bystander intervention and more.

NNEDV Resource Highlight: Safety on Social Media

It’s Social Media Day!

Technology, including social media, has a major impact on survivors of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, and dating violence. While it can be used to access resources, remain connected to family and friends, and hold offenders accountable, it can also be misused by perpetrators to abuse, harass, stalk, and harm victims. 

NNEDV’s Safety Net project provides resources for survivors to recognize signs of technology-facilitated abuse, increase safety online, and learn about legal actions that can be taken against technology misuse.

Learn more about the ways that survivors can increase safety on social media:

• Facebook: We worked with Facebook to create A Guide to Staying Safe on Facebook, a summary that provides quick and easy explanations of important settings to increase privacy and security. The Safety & Privacy on Facebook: A Guide for Survivors of Abuse, a more detailed resource, provides step-by-step assistance to users who are experiencing harassment or concerned about their privacy and safety. This resource is available in over 10 different languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, Urdu, Tamil, Chinese, Vietnamese, and more!
• Twitter: We worked with Twitter to create Safety & Privacy on Twitter: A Guide for Survivors of Harassment and Abuse. The guide walks users through safety tips to increase privacy and explains several features. Safety Net is currently in the process of working with Twitter to updated this so stay tuned for a new version too! 
• YouTube: New tools (released in December 2016) are aimed at increasing safety and curbing harassment on the platform. Learn more from our blog post.
• Learn more about Stalking and Social Media: Our Safety Net team participated in a Q&A about stalking and social media with the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.
• Snapchat: In case you missed it, Snapchat’s new feature shares your location every time you snap. Learn more about going into “Ghost Mode” to prevent this.
• Legal Information: Our WomensLaw project provides tips on safety with social media and internet security. Additionally, WomensLaw details legal responses to technology misuse, including the differences between criminal and civil court cases, and how each addresses technology misuse.

When in doubt, download our Tech Safety App! 

The Tech Safety App helps users identify and address technology-facilitated abuse, including the misuse of social media. Download it from Google Play and the iTunes App Store – it’s free! (We will also be launching a Spanish version of this app in July!)

If you have additional questions about helping survivors stay safe on social media – or any other technology safety questions, please reach out to our Safety Net team: safetynet@nnedv.org.

Do I REALLY Need to Worry About My Password? (Spoiler Alert: Yes!)

Passwords have become such a regular part of our daily lives that it’s easy to forget about the importance of making sure they’re secure. We generally only think about password security when we’ve gotten a notice that one of our accounts has been compromised, or when we’ve forgotten our current password and have to make a new one. Rather than seeing them as a main line of defense against prying eyes, it’s easy to get into the habit of just being annoyed that we need them in the first place. 

This month, we’re taking a fresh look at password security, and the particular ways that survivors of domestic violence can use password security to protect their privacy and increase their safety. Check out our new resource “Passwords: Simple Ways to Increase Your Security” to learn more!