Remember to Protect Your Online Privacy During a Divorce

Ensuring all your sensitive digital information stays secure from your spouse can be a daunting task. An experienced divorce attorney can help you determine which passwords, logins, and settings need to be changed and updated, but you can start by looking at these key areas.

• Communication and Location Services
  

One of your first priorities should be ensuring that your spouse cannot see communications like emails and text messages. At a minimum, you need to change the passwords for any email accounts and change the unlock codes for your phone and other devices.
Another major factor to consider is your spouse’s access to location services. Some people have apps for their phone or vehicle that allow certain people access to their current location. Some of these apps have seemingly innocuous functions, like helping you find a misplaced phone or laptop. However, just like the social media tracking services mentioned below, anything and everything that can be used to track your current or previous locations (including GPS logs in your car), needs to be disabled if possible.

• Financial Logins

You’ll need to ask your attorney about how to handle shared bank accounts during a divorce, but there are a few other finance-related items that you can look at on your own. These include PayPal and other cash-sharing apps, your personal online banking login, and any long-term financial planning services, all of which you should secure with new passwords and security questions.

• Social Media Accounts
  

Make sure to change your social media passwords so that your spouse cannot access your accounts and post as you. Besides that first step, here are some extra security measures and tips that can help you maintain your privacy on social media sites like Facebook.

First, make it more difficult for your spouse to view your posts by unfriending them and anyone who might help them view your profile. Then, change all your account privacy settings so only friends can view your content. However, understand that this doesn’t mean your social media posts can’t be used against you; your spouse’s attorney may still be able to access them and present them in court.

Because social media posts are never truly private, your best option is to not post at all. At the very least, do not post anything about the divorce, what you are doing, or where you have been. You never know how your spouse’s lawyer may try and manipulate the harmless post of the pasta you ordered last night or your fun night out with friends into something they can use against you.

Second, disable all location tracking services. Some social media accounts have options to let friends access your current location. Even if you trust your friends, you need to turn these trackers off.

RELATED ARTICLE: Yes, Your Facebook Posts Can Affect Your Divorce Case

• Shared Services and Storage

Not only could your spouse rack up bills through your Amazon account, but shared movie and music streaming channels like Netflix or Spotify can provide another avenue for your spouse and their attorneys to keep an eye on what you are up to. Apple/iTunes IDs, iCloud accounts, Google Photo storage, and online shopping accounts are also all potential liabilities that need to be secured.

• Two-Step Verification

At the same time you are changing passwords, you should set up an extra layer of security known as two-step verification. This setting makes it so that any new logins or password changes will require a code (usually sent by text message to your mobile phone) to complete the login. This prevents your ex from guessing a password for a site and getting in without you knowing.