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Staying Safe On The Internet

Cyber Safety training used to be common in schools in the 1990’s to early 2000’s as home Internet became new and trendy. The education courses have since disappeared, but we’re online more than ever.

You’re on the Internet all the time. You’re on the Internet right now. You need to know basic Cyber Safety.

This guide was written primarily with the Rotomblr community in mind but contains information applicable to anyone.

Summary:

For the TL;DRs.

-Never give away personal information online including your name, age, location, and triggers.

-Everything you share on the Internet is tracked and stored somewhere and it never disappears.

-Any surprise communication telling you you must do something in a hurry or you’ll lose/miss out on something is probably a scam. Never click a link if you don’t know where it goes, and never login via a portal you were linked to.

-Don’t believe everything you read online, especially if it’s written to make you feel justified in hating something or someone.

General:

An extensive list of things to keep in mind while using the Internet. Grouped roughly by theme.

No take backs. Anything and everything you post online will be around forever. Even if you think you deleted something it can be recovered, it might just be slightly more inconvenient. And you have no way of knowing who saved what you posted be it a Tumblr post, a Discord message, or other online platform.

You have no way of knowing who/how many people are seeing what you post. Don’t assume no one is looking just because you have no Tumblr notes or no Discord replies.

NEVER share your real name, age, location, school, or any other information that pertains to your identity. Some people will say it’s okay to share your country, or your time zone, or your state (if you’re in the US), but everything you share about yourself can be used to hone in on you.

If you have to do age verification, lie! Use a YouTube video, a video game character, a TV show character, etc. Do not use your real identity.

Never forget it is EASY to lie on the Internet. Anyone could be lying about anything at any point.

Be careful sharing photos taken outside or with the sunlight visible. Visible businesses, brands, weather conditions, or even plants or animals may be unique to your area and can be used to pinpoint your location.

Camera and photo apps often save location data in the photo’s autogenerated file name. Screenshotting a photo and sharing that instead can help prevent this, but always check the photo’s file name and data before sharing.

If you’re sharing a photo and need to block out sensitive data, firstly maybe reconsider sharing it at all, or take another picture without the private info showing. If you decide to share anyway, black out the info with an opaque tool, take a screenshot, and share the screenshot instead. It’s possible for someone to reverse the blacking out to reveal the hidden information in the original edit.

Be careful about discussing the weather or events happening near you. Weather phenomena can be very limited across your country. If you point out “Ooh thunder,” someone could easily check the weather radar and see it’s only thunderstorming in one area at that time in your country. Or if they already know your time zone or state they can check and see exactly where in that area it’s storming, and now they know where you are. Same goes for local events and cons. Wait at least 2 weeks between an interesting local event happening and when you talk about it as if it just happened.

Visible stars in a photo can give away your location.

Biometric logins such as fingerprint readers are notoriously insecure because they’re easy to trick.

Crypto transactions are public.

A VPN does not hide your location or activities. It just changes who someone has to ask for your activity and location history.

Incognito modes are not private, they just don’t save browsing history locally. Activity is still tracked.

On Windows, files ending in .exe are executables meaning they will run a program when opened. If the source claimed it was anything but an executable you should assume it’s a virus and delete it.

Never open ANY download or file that is not the file type you were expecting, or unexpectedly large files. (Ex. You were expecting a .png, but the file says .exe, .vbs, .apk, etc. Or it says .png.exe). Unexpected file types or sizes indicate they could contain executable scripts that may try to install something without your consent such as spyware, malware, etc.

If you have keep me signed in, remember password, remember this device, etc. enabled on any platforms on your device and that device gets hacked, the hacker now has access to all of those platforms.

Change your passwords every once in a while, and use 2FA when able. There is no single infallible method to protect your device or accounts, so use all of the tools at your disposal to add layers of protection. See the Swiss Cheese Model of using multiple layers of security to decrease opportunities for harm.

Never plug a random USB you found into a computer. It could contain malware the owner was hoping you’d find.

You are being tracked all the time. The hottest commodity of the Internet is any and all data corporations can collect on its users.

Were you thinking of sending a death threat via Tumblr anon? Are you harassing someone through an alt account? That’s all stored on a database somewhere. Your Internet provider has records of your activity. It can be traced back to you. Don’t do it.

Companies sell any information they get about you, and data breaches are common. “We delete it right after!” No they don’t. “Our system is completely secure!” No it isn’t.

Microtransactions and gacha games are gambling and are designed to addict you. They bleed money from you over a long period of time so you don’t notice how much you’re spending right away.

Read popups before allowing anything. Is your computer asking you if you’re sure you want to run a program after downloading what you thought was a .pdf? Is that site asking you over and over again to allow it to access something?

Any communication pressuring you to do something is a scam especially if it’s from an account you don’t know, or an unexpected message from an account you do know. Don’t follow their instructions. Never click their links.

Scams often use time or emotional pressure to startle you into complying. That random dm/dm from an old friend telling you your account is going to be deleted soon unless you sign in through this particular portal they’ve provided. That person who says they’ve been waiting for you, so please hurry and make a new account on some other platform so you can chat/get paid/watch a stream/etc. That email that claims the store with something you’ve been eyeing but can’t afford is having a sale but it ends tonight, so click this link to get there quickly. That comment asking for your Paypal name so they can send you some cash that you could really use.

Never follow suspicious or unsolicited links. Never follow that link a suspicious account “helpfully” provided to you to log in/download/verify/etc. Go to your search bar and type in the website’s url or search for it yourself.

Don’t shit talk people in general. Definitely don’t write callouts, make posts, or spread rumors about people. At best it makes others in the community see you as someone who will harass them for mistakes, and at worst you could actually get sued for defamation of character.

Accusations of pedophilia are a popular tactic to villainize a target or target demographic. Everyone uses “to protect kids” as an excuse for their own predatory or bullying behavior. Everyone from corporations to politicians to political movements. Think of the Tumblr porn ban of 2018 that claimed it was making the space safer for children, then just terminated huge swaths of LGBT+ content for being “inappropriate”. And yet the porn is still here.

Callout posts against people are almost always just harassment disguised as public service. Be especially wary if the target of a callout is a commonly targeted demographic like trans women or people of color.

Screenshots of text conversations/posts are easily edited to make it look like anyone said/did anything. Take these with a grain of salt.

Death threats are a crime in most places. Telling someone you’re going to hurt or kill them or telling other people you want to kill someone can get you in real trouble. See item 21.

Real arrests have been made based on people’s Internet activity. Mostly women who need healthcare access or trans individuals, and this victim list is growing. What do you think happens to you when your behavior or demographic is deemed “dangerous”? Especially if you willingly handed over your identity for “age verification”?

It’s no one’s business how old you are. You do NOT need to announce if you’re a minor or an adult in your bio. If you broadcast that you’re a minor, you’ve just shared some very interesting information with people trying to prey on kids.

Don’t post your triggers! There’s a trend right now to post your DNI’s and/or triggers somewhere public with a big message that says “Don’t talk to me about these!” If someone online wants to upset you this is a How To Upset You guide you just gave them for free. Instead, use content filters and blocks to avoid topics you don’t like, and if you’re in a conversation about something you don’t like you can always vanish and come back later when the topic has passed. Your triggers are your own business, don’t broadcast them.

You’re the only person responsible for keeping you safe online. There’s a rising trend to rely on adults in an online community to protect the teenagers, and for platforms to add age and identity requirements “To protect kids”. But why would you trust complete strangers with your safety?

The Internet is not a safe place. It can be a safe place to express yourself, to learn new hobbies, to share your interests, to write, to create, etc. But it is NOT plain old safe. The essence of the Internet is anonymity, and this has pros and cons. You get to be your own unique self with no pressure or judgement from your offline life. However, you don’t know who’s watching you or interacting with you at any moment. The Internet is a giant masquerade everyone was invited to where no one knows anything about each other. Your favorite person ever is on the Internet. The worst people you’ve ever heard of are also on the Internet.

Anyone telling you their space is perfectly safe is either foolish or lying to you. This goes equally for people running online community spaces and companies running platforms with age “safety features”.

Be alert. Most of the people you meet won’t have bad intentions, but the few that do are really counting on you to trust they’re like the others.

Be kind. Never forget there’s a real person behind that screen. You don’t know who they are or everything they’re going through. If you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face, why would you say it to them online?

Tips for Younger Users:

The anonymity of the Internet is what allows you to be your own weird self in your own weird space without pressure from your offline life. Don’t let something convince you giving up this privacy is the best way to stay safe.

Companies are not your friends. Any app/website/product/etc that claims to require your personal information to “enhance safety” is lying. Do NOT hand over your personal information like your ID, your learners permit, your school, your real age, etc. This is just a way to easily de-anonymize your account, and you can NOT undo this once they have it.

Adults looking to take advantage of children often try to lower their guard by treating them like they’re more special than “other kids”. Be wary of people who say things like, “You’re really mature for your age” or “I don’t usually like to interact with minors, but I’ll make an exception for you,” or “My server/group chat is 18+ but I’ll let you slide/I can lower the age limit until you’re old enough”

Be wary of people who seem very eager for the moment you become a legal adult (“turn legal”), or finding out if you’re “old enough”.

Don’t post selfies or share your face on camera! Like all online activity, you can’t take this back, and you never know who’s saving images or screenshots.

If you’re underage, don’t lie about your age to gain access to content that’s age restricted, ESPECIALLY in a roleplaying community. Adults may feel uncomfortable discussing or writing certain topics with teenagers, and depending on the content it could be a legality concern for the adults.

You don’t have to give away your age demographic to respect age restrictions. Simply don’t opt into designated adults only spaces, and if a conversation topic comes up that you don’t think you should engage in, just say you don’t feel like discussing that and change the topic, or find somewhere else to hang out for a while.

You can say No. No is a complete sentence. If you don’t want to do/say/write/reblog/roleplay/etc something, you can say no. You don’t even have to explain yourself. If someone gives you grief? Block.

Libraries are good resources for information that may be otherwise restricted.

Everything you share is available online forever. You will not have all the same priorities or beliefs ten years from now, but everything you said will still be here for people to find.

Tips for Older Users:

Be nice to kids. You were one once. Create the space you needed when you were their age. Be supportive of them even if you don’t love their ideas, be kind even when you need to turn them down, and tell them how much you like their ideas when they do something cool especially when they’re just starting out. Be the reason they continue the hobby, not the reason they quit.

There’s a trend right now of making roleplay spaces that are only 18+ or sometimes even 20+ or 25+, or putting “Minors DNI” in profiles even though the blog doesn’t contain any adult themes. Firstly, you can’t actually control what age groups interact with something like a blog, or if a 19 vs 20 year old clicks on a Discord link. Secondly, we all want to hang out with people our own age sometimes, but don’t completely shun newcomers in the community just because they’re younger, ESPECIALLY in a kids media fandom like Pokemon. This media was made FOR them, so they ARE going to be here.

The community will be very empty in a few years if older users don’t help new participants feel welcome.

“Minor” is a legal term not a social term. If you say “That’s not appropriate for minors” what you’re claiming is, “Knowingly distributing that directly to individuals under the age of 18 is punishable by law.” Just because you don’t like something does not make it illegal for it to exist.

You are taking a risk when you ask if someone is old enough to engage in NSFW themes or topics with you.

Kids lie about their ages to get access to adult content. It’s not cool, but it’s super common. It’s been happening ever since they invented R rated movies for teens to sneak into. If you find out someone did this in your designated 18+ space, just block and move on. Don’t harass a teenager for common teenage shenanigans. You don’t have to forgive them, but you do have to leave them alone and move on.

Going out of your way to accuse people of pedophilia does not actually protect children. It just encourages anxiety in both the new users trying to engage in a space that’s presented as TEEMING with predators, and the older ones desperately trying to just exist without catching the next accusation.

Making a dick joke, shipping adult characters, or acknowledging that sex exists around a teenager is not the same as being a sexual predator of children.

It’s NOT your job to police what content other people’s children access on the Internet.

If you want to help create a safer environment for young users, model responsible adult behavior for them. Model effective communication, respect for boundaries and space, proper use of tags when able, blocking or ignoring instead of fighting, making newcomers feel welcome, etc. Be a good example for a younger user to reference when they encounter behavior that raises concerns in them.

Have more tips? Share them in the replies!

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