Internet safety
Browsing safely.
If someone monitors your devices, visiting this site could be visible to them. Here is what to know.
Leave this site quickly
Every page has a Quick Exit button in the top bar and in the footer. Pressing Escape twice does the same thing. Both send you to a weather site and replace this page in your history, so the back button will not return here.
Quick Exit does not erase your full browsing history. The steps below cover that.
What a monitored device can reveal
Browsing history, search terms, saved passwords, autofill entries, downloaded files, and bookmarks can all show where you have been. Phone bills can show call and text records. Shared accounts, family plans, and cloud backups can sync activity across devices without you doing anything.
Monitoring software can record activity even when you delete your history. If you believe your device is monitored, the safest option is to use a different device entirely — a public library computer, a friend’s phone, or a device the other person has never had access to.
Clearing your history
The exact steps differ by browser, and clearing history can itself look unusual if the other person expects to see it. Consider whether an empty history would raise questions.
- Chrome: menu, then Delete browsing data. Choose a time range and confirm.
- Safari: History menu, then Clear History. On iPhone, Settings, then Safari, then Clear History and Website Data.
- Firefox: menu, then History, then Clear recent history.
- Edge: Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Clear browsing data.
Private browsing
Private or Incognito windows keep pages out of your local history, but they do not hide activity from monitoring software, a network administrator, or an internet provider. They help with a shared device. They do not defeat surveillance.
Other things worth checking
- Location sharing on your phone, and in apps you may have forgotten about
- Shared cloud accounts, family plans, and automatic photo backups
- Saved passwords and autofill, especially on shared computers
- Smart home devices, car systems, and shared streaming accounts
- Whether email you send stays in a synced Sent folder
Safer ways to reach us
If your phone or email is not safe, tell us that when you first make contact and give us a contact method that is safe for you, along with when it is safe to reach you. We will use it and nothing else. A trusted friend’s phone, a work email the other person cannot access, or a public library computer are all workable.
You can also simply call us at (414) 933-1637 from any phone.
If you are in danger
Call 911. In Milwaukee County, the Sojourner Family Peace Center hotline is (414) 933-2722, available 24 hours. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 799-7233, or text START to 88788.
See our full resource referrals for more.