Learn digital safety
Short, honest explanations of how the technology around you works. Every topic includes what it does not protect against — nothing here will claim more safety than it can deliver. Read in any order; each article stands alone and is written to be put down and picked up.
- How browser history works
Every page you visit is recorded on the device — and often beyond it.
- What private browsing does and doesn't do
Incognito windows keep no local history — and change nothing else.
- Messaging more safely
Encryption protects messages in transit. The bigger risks are usually the two phones.
- Passwords when someone close is the risk
The usual advice assumes a stranger. Your risk may know your dog's name and your mother's birthday.
- Prepaid and second phones
A phone the other person doesn't know exists — and what it takes to keep it that way.
- Using library and public computers
Often the safest screen available — with a few habits worth keeping.
- Public Wi-Fi
For this threat model, the coffee-shop network is usually not the problem.
- Cloud synchronization
Sync is invisible copying. Photos, messages, notes, and locations flow to every signed-in device.
- Digital footprints
The small records daily life leaves — and which ones someone close can read.
What this site cannot protect you from
Being clear about limits is part of keeping you safe. Whatever you read elsewhere on this site, none of its protections can prevent:
- Someone taking a screenshot, or a photo of the screen with another device.
- Browser history that synced to another phone or computer before or while you used this site.
- Your internet provider — or whoever controls the Wi-Fi — seeing which sites you visit.
- Spyware installed on the device's operating system.
- Keyloggers, which record everything typed.
- Someone physically watching you use the device.
- Anything at all, if the device itself is fully controlled by someone else.
If any of these may apply to you, the safest option is a device the person cannot access — a public library computer, a trusted friend's phone, or a work terminal. The Devices guides explain how to judge that. Read the device guides.
The Leave button (or the Esc key) instantly hides this page and opens a weather site. It does not erase browser history, downloads, or anything already saved on this device.