Take out a piece of paper or open a document on your digital device and identify what you are most concerned about. This will help you determine your goals and action steps. 

• What are you trying to protect? What “assets”? Could be email, location, files, reputation, physical safety, safety of someone you know, real name, etc. 
• What part or area of your life are you most concerned about? 
• Who else could be impacted if you became the target of harassment?

Search for yourself on DuckDuckGo and try doing this search in incognito mode. This will give you a sense of how much data exists about you online to people who are not in your network. 

Remove your sensitive contact details from Google. Google your name plus the words “phone number”, “email address”, or “address”. For example: 

• Jane Doe “email address” 

Do you see your sensitive personal info on data brokerage sites? Google has a tool to request a takedown of that info from Google itself (but doesn’t remove it from the other sites). 

Steps for Google removal request: 

• Click the three vertical dots next to the Google results you want removed
• Click "remove result"
• Click “it shows my personal contact info”, following the remaining steps

Sometimes Google approves the removal, sometimes they don’t. The information will still exist outside of Google.

Removing personal information from the Internet can be a time-consuming task. There are services that can manage this effort on your behalf. This Consumer Reports article identifies individual steps you can take, along with several CR-vetted companies who do this work listed at the bottom of the article.

Create an alternative phone number

Follow the instructions here from Brightlines on how to set up an intermediate phone number.

Enable Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

When thinking about which accounts you want to add MFA, you have to think like a troll. Which accounts do you have that would cause the most damage if it was compromised? By taking over your e-mail, they can release and interfere with your communication; by taking over your bank account, they can wreak havoc with your finances. We recommend you lock them all down.

Install the iVerify app to protect your mobile device

Consider delisting from University Directories

If you are concerned that online harassers can find you on campus or use your Harvard email or phone number to direct harmful communications to you, you may request that some or all of your personal information be removed from University directories. Students may adjust the settings for their profiles in Harvard directories by following these instructions. Faculty and staff can follow the instructions here. Note that University faculty and staff will need to provide a brief explanation for their request.

Note: Members of the community should be aware that these instructions may not result in the delisting of all Harvard-related programs and activities. Reach out to your Harvard affiliations (academic department, extracurricular activities, etc.) if you wish to make a similar request.

Social Media Settings

Consider temporarily disabling your social media profiles or switching them to private, so only those you are connected to can post or comment. Although your first instinct may be to respond and defend yourself online, responding to harassing messages can tend to prolong and inflame incidents. Online attacks can be intense, but they are not usually sustained for long periods of time. Other steps you can take include:

• Ignore: The goal of social media agitators (commonly referred to as trolls) is to elicit a response. In many cases, trolls move on if you ignore them long enough.
• Mute: If what someone is saying about you online is causing you distress, you can change your settings to mute them. The harassing party normally is not notified that you’ve muted them, and you can ignore their comments. If you are worried their comments may become threatening, ask a friend or colleague to check your feed on your behalf.
• Block: Several social media platforms allow you to selectively prevent others from following you, seeing your posts, or commenting on your content. Please note that when you block someone, they may receive a notification or be able to see that you’ve blocked them, depending on the platform, and may choose to criticize you on their own channels.
• Report: Reporting a user’s behavior to social media platforms could result in their account being suspended if they violated the platform’s guidelines. This strategy has limitations, as harassing messages might come from multiple accounts, making it difficult to pinpoint a culprit. Additionally, some posts might be harassing in nature but not violate specific platform guidelines.

For LinkedIn, note that professional connections can be at particular risk if they are found to be engaging in political activities. To disable the public visibility of your profile, go to your public profile settings, and on the right-hand side you will see “Your profile’s public visibility.” Switch this setting to “off”. Further information can be found here.

How will you monitor what’s going on?

Create a way to monitor what’s going on, so you can assess any risks. Set a Google alert for your name or any keywords. Add a filter in your Gmail. Ask a friend to monitor your accounts and email you.

Get Support

Dealing with online harassment can be stressful. Visit the College’s Get Support site to connect with resources to help you.

• Harvard’s guide to dealing with harassment
• HUIT Tools & Services for Students
• How to deal with online harassment
• Doxxing tips, protecting yourself online, & how to minimize harm
• Guide to managing online harassment
• Bystander Training
• Dealing with harassing emails & direct messages