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Technology tools have become woven into the fabric of our daily lives. Unfortunately they have become woven into how sexual violence is committed as well. Offenders misuse technology in order to commit, and cover up, sexual assault and sexual violence. In addition, the vast amount of information available online can compromise survivors’ privacy. However, tech can work for survivors as well. The digital trail left by that misuse of technology can be used by survivors and those who work with them to hold offenders accountable. Online spaces can support survivors’ healing.

Advocates and other professionals working with survivors of sexual violence may use the information here to:

  • Narrow down the possible technology that could be involved in the case.

  • Gauge the survivor’s knowledge and understanding.

  • Identify where they might want assistance in navigating technology options.

Sexual violence may intersect with stalking, including technology-facilitated stalking. You can learn more about the intersection of sexual violence and stalking through SPARC’s materials on intersecting victimizations.

Safety Net has other guidance on assessment for tech misuse and on sexual violence and technology. You may find the following guides helpful:

Important: Remember that a survivor being targeted by a stranger, or in the context of group or mass violence (e.g. riot, war, pogrom, terrorism, gang or paramilitary violence) doesn’t preclude follow-up tech concerns. Images could be used to identify a survivor or their location, or to humiliate the survivor. A survivor’s stolen devices could be misused. In some cases, offender documentation of sexual violence could be used to turn the survivor’s own community against them, if the survivor is blamed for it and it is seen as an offense to community honor.

Remember that our work begins by listening to a survivor’s story and concerns. The needs and priorities of a survivor dealing with recent sexual violence will differ from those of a survivor who experienced sexual violence many years ago. Each survivor will use different language to describe their experience and the person who committed the sexual violence. While the term “offender” is used in this document, it is often good practice to mirror the survivor’s language.

These questions are meant as a starting point for your work with survivors. This list is not intended as an intake form or required set of topics. Choose and adapt these topics as they seem relevant to your work together over the course of time.

This document talks about two types of issues to assess:

  • What is the survivor concerned about? These may be issues that the survivor has experienced before, been threatened with, or has reason to believe might happen.

  • What might the survivor be at risk for that they haven’t thought of? For example, the survivor may not realize that someone could find their name by searching a photo of them, or their home address by searching their name.

Scenario: A survivor read a news story about AirTags and other Bluetooth trackers being used to stalk people, and thinks that must be how a stalker found their home address. However, despite thorough searches of their belongings and the survivor’s use of a Bluetooth tracker detector app, the survivor has not been able to locate a tracker. The stalker lives several hours away, and though the survivor has been receiving unwanted gifts and threatening letters at their home address for six months, they have not seen the stalker in person for over a year. This doesn’t seem like what you would expect in a Bluetooth tracker situation.

You and the survivor search the survivor’s name using a search engine and discover that the first page of results includes multiple people search data brokers that list their home address. The survivor didn’t know that these sites existed, so had not considered them. This fits the pattern better, so you make a plan with the survivor to opt out of data brokers. This won’t cause the stalker to stop knowing the address, but the survivor wants to move to a new apartment anyway, so you work together on that goal.

Tip: Safety Net has how-tos on removing personal information from the Internet. Check out Safety Net’s guides to Data Brokers and Removing Sensitive Content from the Internet.

  1. Are you concerned about information that is available about you on the Internet that could be used to harm you? For example, your full name, address, school, or workplace?

    • Would you like to talk through ways to remove your personal information from the Internet?

  2. Are you concerned that online information about what happened might violate your privacy? This could include police reports, sex offender registries, news stories, or social media or blog posts about you, what happened, or the offender.

  3. What accounts (e.g. social media) and devices (e.g. laptop, phone, smart watch) do you have?

What is the survivor concerned that the offender will do (or is doing) by misusing tech?

Scenario: A survivor who was recently drugged and raped by someone they were on a date with thinks the offender may have tampered with their phone while they were unconscious, because the phone, which was unlocked, was in a different purse pocket after they woke up than it was before they passed out. They are afraid that the offender can track their phone now and will find them again.
Important: Keep in mind that what counts as sensitive or might put a survivor at risk can vary by community. For some survivors it may be broader than what mainstream US culture considers “intimate.” For example, an image of a man engaging in a same-sex kiss, or a woman holding hands with a man not related to her, could put some survivors at risk for ostracism or even physical violence, even though they would not generally be covered under laws or policies against nonconsensually-distributed intimate imagery.

  1. Are you concerned about being attacked or harassed in person [again]?

  2. Are you concerned that your conversations are being monitored?

  3. Are you concerned about intimate or sensitive images, like photos or videos, that might be spread about you through social media, email or a website to people you know?

  4. Are you concerned about images, information, or rumors that might be spread about you through social media, email or a website to people you know?

  5. Are you concerned about the offender using social media to encourage other people to harass or assault you?

  6. Are you concerned about the offender impersonating you online, or through texts, message or chat

  7. Are you concerned about your ability to continue using technology while maintaining your privacy?

  8. Are you interested in talking to other people about what happened? In safely documenting what happened? This could include making a report.

  9. Do you have other concerns about your privacy or safety?

Tip: Questions about talking to others are common and go beyond the role of technology. They are included because there are technology-specific ways of talking to other people about sexual violence. A few examples are listed below. These may warrant tech safety planning conversations. For information on medical documentation, see RAINN’s information for survivors on what a forensic exam is and how to get one.
Scenario: The offender has a large follower count on social media and has been posting that the survivor deserves to be sexually assaulted due to their political views. The survivor has tried to report the posts, but only some of them have been taken down and the survivor fears that this is also happening in non-public groups. The survivor is worried that they will be assaulted by one of the offender’s followers.
Tip: For more guidance on collecting and storing documentation of violence, see Safety Net’s Documentation Tips for Survivors of Abuse and Stalking.

Tech to keep in mind

As you work with the survivor, here are some specific types of technology to keep in mind:

  • Social media sites and apps. This may include posts, comments, pictures, video, live video, or location.

  • Online forums or groups that both the offender and the survivor might belong to, for example at school or work.

  • Online news sites or databases that may have information about the sexual violence, the survivor, or both.

  • Webcams on computers and mobile devices.

  • Smart glasses.

  • Chatbots and other artificial intelligence tools. For more information about artificial intelligence, please see Safety Net’s Demystifying AI Tech Talk and Survivor’s Guide to AI.

  • Dating and hookup sites and apps.

  • Cloud storage. This may include Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, or other storage accounts. These could potentially be accessed by the offender having or guessing a password, or by physical or remote access to the survivor’s phone or computer.

  • Online gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality apps and sites.

  • Location tracking devices, as well as location features on social media and mobile devices.

  • “Smart” and “connected” devices. These are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) that connect everyday devices to the Internet. They may include wireless routers and connected cars. For more information on connected cars, see Safety Net’s Connected Cars. For more information on IoT devices and survivor safety, see the IoT section of our Survivor Toolkit.

  • Assistive technology (as in that used by people with disabilities). This could include communication devices, screen readers, hearing devices, and accessibility features built into phones and computers.

  • Account information from billing records, apps, email providers, and other services that require accounts.

  • Databases and security cameras from places the offender has access to (businesses, schools, housing, workplaces, health care facilities, etc.).

Important: Remember to factor in “old school” technology such as landlines, older cordless phones, and baby monitors. Older devices often offer less security. Their software systems may no longer be updated with security patches.

Don’t forget about social engineering

Also consider “social engineering,” or manipulating our basic human desire to help others, can pose a risk to survivors’ privacy and safety. The most secure system can be compromised if someone is tricked into giving access to an offender or someone acting on their behalf. There are many social engineering tactics. A few common examples:

  • Phishing (sending emails or messages intended to trick someone into clicking a link, sending or entering sensitive information, downloading a file, etc., often by posing as a legitimate website, business, or contact).

  • Impersonation in order to gather information, such as calling a bank or hospital pretending to be a survivor or survivor’s family member.

  • Pretending to be a resident who has forgotten their key in order to get a legitimate resident to let the person into an apartment complex.

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