Take control of your digital spaces with this DIY feminist cybersecurity guide

As unfortunately is common knowledge, being a feminist online can often expose you to abuse and harassment. It’s pretty damn frightening, and taking steps to protect yourself can seem almost as intimidating. However, Safe Hub Collective, an awesome Boston-based activist group, has built a guide to help you implement levels of cybersecurity that fit your needs and your life. In their words: “You have a right to exist safely in digital spaces.” Take a look below at some of the tips that we found useful to get started.

• Password, password, password! Sometimes it seems like to do anything online ever, we need to make and (most importantly remember) a new password. While it’s very tempting to create a generic one and use it across all sites, this is not good. Again, this is not good. As frustrating as it is, really do try to make passwords that are a mixture of random letters, numbers, and special characters and make them long. If your brain is going to explode with one more password, check out Safe Hub’s guide on password managers.
• Enable two-factor authentication: So you’ve made a great password — congrats! Just one more thing: Safe Hub suggests that we enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible. 2FA is basically an extra step that asks for an auto-generated code that is sent to your email or phone along with your password.
• Learn about your social media security: It’s probably a best practice to understand the privacy settings for the sites we rely on each day. So if you frequently use social media to learn more about feminism or to share your own thoughts, take a second and review your settings with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
• Beware of geotagging: While updating your friends and family on where you took your latest Insta post can be fun, you are also associating important information about your daily activities with a physical address. According to Safe Hub, this includes information like your home and travel habits. Consider disabling geotagging in your privacy settings or try a VPN.

For more information, check out their Cheat Sheet guide, the entire project, or their own site. As their project is a labor of love, you should definitely consider donating and join the conversation with #SafeHubTech.

Feature Image Credit: Safe Hub Collective