It’s easy to forget about safety when you’re at home behind a screen. However, it’s just as important to look after your personal safety online as when you are out and about in the world.
What to do if you do experience stalking or harassment:
Give a single clear message to the person that you don’t want any attention or contact from them and ask them to stop the behaviour immediately.
Do a social media security check up, change your passwords and increase your privacy settings.
Block and report the behaviour to the social media site, e.g., Facebook or Twitter, or to the University, if it is via email.
Keep your location private and turn off location services linked to social accounts — do not check-in to places via socials.
If you are being stalked, you may want to create a new email account, and get a new phone number (SIM card) if blocking has been unsuccessful.
Tell people you trust about the behaviour, including family, friends, your workplace (please advise Comms) and the University.
Keep and date a record of all contact from the person, what happened and when, including emails and direct messages, screenshots of posts or comments, notifications, etc.
You can make a cyber abuse report if you have collected relevant evidence and information.
If you feel unsafe or the stalking has occurred for more than 2 weeks, report it to the Police. If you receive a threat, report it to the Police immediately.
Read more tips on managing your personal safety.
If you have any questions about this information, please get in touch with Help Desk