Browsing Safely
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Some people who contact us are worried that the person they are asking about might see that they did. That is a reasonable thing to worry about, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a reassuring noise.
This page is honest about what a website can and cannot do for you. A website cannot make you safe. It can tell you the truth about what it leaves behind.
If you are in immediate danger
Call 000.
For family and domestic violence support at any hour, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, or visit 1800respect.org.au.
Those services are staffed by people trained for this. We are investigators, not counsellors, and if that is what you need we would rather point you to them.
What visiting this site leaves behind
Visiting any website leaves a record in your browser history, and it may leave a record with whoever provides your internet connection. We cannot remove either of those. What we can tell you is how to avoid creating the first one.
Use a private window
A private or incognito window is not saved to your browser history when you close it.
- iPhone or iPad, Safari: tap the tabs button at the bottom right, tap the tab-group name at the bottom of the screen, choose Private, then tap the plus button.
- Android, Chrome: tap the three dots at the top right, then New Incognito tab.
- Windows or Mac, Chrome or Edge: press Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + N (Mac).
- Windows or Mac, Firefox: press Ctrl + Shift + P (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + P (Mac).
- Mac, Safari: press Cmd + Shift + N.
A private window does not hide your browsing from your internet provider, from a workplace network, or from monitoring software installed on the device itself.
If you think the device itself is being monitored
Use a different one. Monitoring software can record what you type and take screenshots regardless of which browser window you use, and a private window will not stop it.
A device the other person cannot access is safer than any browser setting: a work computer, a friend’s or family member’s phone, or a public computer at a library. Ring us from that device too, rather than from a phone whose bill or call log is shared.
Be aware that phones can share history, tabs and location through a family account without any software being installed. If you share an Apple or Google account with the person you are concerned about, treat that account as visible to them.
Tidy up afterwards
If you did not use a private window, you can delete individual entries from your browser history rather than clearing the lot. Clearing an entire history is itself conspicuous on a shared device, and leaving one ordinary-looking gap is usually safer than leaving none at all.
What we do with what you send us
- An enquiry from our contact form goes to our office by email and is stored in the database attached to this website. It is not published anywhere and it is never sold or shared with anyone outside the firm.
- We treat the fact that you contacted us as confidential, not just the contents. We will not confirm to a third party that you have been in touch.
- You can tell us how to reply. If a call, a voicemail or an email would put you at risk, say so in your message and we will follow it.
- Records may be kept for up to seven years, because a matter can remain relevant to legal proceedings for that long. See our privacy policy for the detail.
If you would rather not type anything
Ring the office on 1300 773 293. We answer 24 hours, the call costs nothing, there is no obligation, and nothing is written down until you decide to go ahead.