How to view discreetly

The information below sets out the steps you can take to view this site discreetly. Remember, if you think someone is monitoring the sites you visit at home, the safest option is to access the Internet elsewhere, at a friend’s house, an Internet café or the local library.

Every time you use the Internet, your Internet browser saves information including web page addresses, images, search terms cookies, or words used in search engines and login names. Your browser’s history can reveal what you have been looking at online.

Follow the steps below to keep others from knowing you have visited this site.

Quick Escape From This Site

If you’re browsing the site on a desktop computer and you wish to quickly hide this site, pressing ESCAPE on your keyboard will quickly navigate away.

Please note that this does NOT hide the browsing history, which you should do by using private browsing or deleting your cache, please read on for instructions.

Check Your Browser

Open your browser (the program you use to browse the Internet). The name of the browser is usually the first menu item on the left hand side. Clicking the about option on this menu will tell you the version number. Alternatively visit this site to find out which browser you’re using. Your browser will be one of the below:

Desktop Browsers: Google Chrome / Safari / Mozilla Firefox / Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer

Mobile Browsers: Safari / Chrome / Android Browser

Private Browsing

All modern browsers have private browsing modes which will allow you to browse safely without anyone being able to retrace your steps.

To find out more about private browsing for your browser, click the link below:

Desktop Browsers: Google Chrome / Safari / Mozilla Firefox / Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer

Mobile Browsers: Safari / Chrome / Android Browser

Deleting All Data

There is a risk involved in removing all private data from your computer.

• Removing cookies will clear saved passwords for membership sites or online banking, which could alert people who use the same computer that you have removed information.
• Other people who use the same computer may notice if the address history on the PC has been cleared.

It is better to use private browsing, however if you have already visited the sites without private browsing you may need to clear your history. If you wish to delete all traces of your browsing and are happy with the risks above, follow the instructions for your browser:

Desktop Browsers: Google Chrome / Safari / Mozilla Firefox / Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer

Mobile Browsers: Safari / Chrome / Android Browser

E-mail

• Any email you send will normally be saved in the folder marked sent Items. Go to sent items and delete emails you don’t want a person to see
• Unfinished emails can be saved in the folder marked drafts. Go to the drafts folder to delete it
• If you reply to an email, the original message may be in the body of the message – delete to be safe.
• Empty your Deleted Items folder: emails are stored until you remove them completely
• You may wish to set up a new email account you can keep private. Use a provider like Hotmail, Google or Yahoo for an account you can access from anywhere, and use a name that is not recognisable.
• Please note: If an abuser sends you threatening or harassing e-mail messages, they may be printed and saved as evidence of this abuse.

Deleting Downloaded Files

If you have downloaded any of our documents, the PDF or Word file will be saved on your computer. If you do not wish anyone to see these files you will need to delete them.

When you download a file you are asked whether you would like to save the file. Clicking yes and then saving somewhere obvious like your desktop makes it easy to see and delete files afterwards by dragging them to your waste bin or trash and emptying the bin before you finish your session.

If you accepted the default location for downloaded files they will be saved in a temp folder (PC) or Downloads (Mac). On a PC navigate to your temp folder on your C drive and delete the files by clicking on them and selecting delete.

On a Mac, downloads should appear in the dock at the bottom of your screen. Open this download window in finder (scroll to the bottom of the list of files for this option.) Right click on the name of the file you wish to delete and select move to trash.