Safe Browsing
If you are worried about someone knowing you have visited our website please read the following information and take the following steps to increase your safety when visiting our website.
Generally, internet browsers save certain information as you browse websites. This includes images from websites visited, information entered into search engines and a trail (‘history’) that reveals the sites you have visited.
The information below is not exhaustive but can help you to minimise the chances of someone finding out that you have visited this website, if it is important to you to retain complete privacy.
Leave Now Purple Button
The purple Leave Now button on the top right of every page of our desktop website will quickly hide close the page and open the Google UK search page. However, you will still need to delete your browser history to fully cover your tracks. On mobile phones this will display as a grey bar at the bottom of the page.
Know Your Browser
It is important to know what browser you are using. If you do not know the type of browser you are using, click on Help on the toolbar at the top of the browser screen. A drop down menu will appear, the last entry will say About Internet Explorer, About Mozilla Firefox, About Google Chrome or something similar. The entry refers to which browser type you are using – you should then refer to the relevant instructions below.
Private Browsing
All leading web browsers have a “private browsing” mode that, once enabled, stores nothing about your activity on your computer in that browsing window. This won’t stop online services from seeing what you get up to, but it won’t leave any traces of your activity on your computer (no history, web cache or anything else) and so it’s always a useful first step to take.
Internet Explorer: Go to Safety – Tools – “InPrivate Browsing”.
Firefox: Click the Menu button with three horizontal lines – “New Private Window”.
Chrome: Click the Menu button with three horizontal lines and select “New Incognito Window”.
Similar options can be found in Opera and Safari.
It is also best to double check that nothing has been stored by following the steps below.
Internet Explorer
Click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options. On the General page, under Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Cookies and then OK. Click on Delete Files, put a tick in the box labelled Delete all offline content and click OK. Under History, click on Clear History and then OK. Now look at the top of the window and click on the Content tab, select AutoComplete and finally, Clear Forms.
Firefox
Click on Tools and then Options, then click on Privacy. Click on the Clear button next to Cache and Saved Form Information.
Chrome
Click on the 3 dots at the top right handside of the browser window to open the drop down menu. Scroll down to "More Tools" and click on "Clear Browsing Data".
Deleting Your Browsing History
Internet browsers also keep a record of all the web pages you visit. This is known as a ‘history’. To delete history for Internet Explorer and Firefox hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard, then press the H key (Ctrl, Alt and H for Opera). Find any entries that say www.transwidowsvoices.org, right click and choose Delete.
Toolbars
Toolbars such as Google, AOL and Yahoo keep a record of the search words you have typed into the toolbar search box. In order to erase all the search words you have typed in, you will need to check the individual instructions for each type of toolbar. For example, for the Google toolbar all you need to do is click on the Google icon, and choose “Clear Search History”.
General Security
If you do not use a password to log on to your computer, someone else could access your email and track your internet usage. The safest way to find information on the internet, would be at a local library, a friend’s house, or at work. However, you should be aware that monitoring of internet usage is becoming more common in the workplace.
All of the above information may not completely hide your tracks. Many browser types have features that display recently visited sites. The safest way to find information on the internet, would be at a local library, a friend’s house, or at work. However, be aware of your workplace policy on employee internet usage and surveillance.
VPN - Virtual Private Network
VPN stands for "Virtual Private Network" and describes the facility to establish a protected network connection when using public networks. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your online identity. This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data. The encryption takes place in real time. For more information: Which Guide To VPN
Further Information
Further information and support about online and digital abuse: