Digital Safety: How to Browse Securely
We want our community space to be as safe as possible for everyone, including those who are currently living in unsupportive environments or choosing to keep their privacy secure.
1. Our Quick Escape Feature
We have built a Quick Exit tool into every page of this website. If you are browsing and someone walks into the room, look for the floating red ✕ Quick Exit bubble at the bottom right of your screen, or tap your keyboard's Escape (Esc) key twice quickly.
Your screen will instantly switch to a neutral page (Google), and the browser's "Back" arrow will not return to this site.
2. How to Erase Your Footprint
The escape button is an excellent shield for your screen, but it does not wipe your local browser history. For true privacy, follow these standard practices:
- Always go Incognito: Before visiting our site, open your browser's menu and select New Incognito Window (Chrome), New Private Window (Firefox/Safari), or InPrivate Browsing (Edge). This prevents your device from saving cookies, site data, or search history locally.
- Cover your tracks: If you didn't use a private window, go into your browser's settings right now, select History, and selectively delete this website from the log.
- Clear the Clutter: If you have to clear your browser history, don't just clear our site. Clearing your entire history looks suspicious to a monitoring parent or partner. Instead, browse a few completely neutral sites (like weather, news, or cooking recipes) after visiting us, then selectively delete only the LGBTQ+ links from your history.
3. Keep Your Devices Locked
Ensure your phone or laptop has a strong passcode that is not easily guessed (avoid birthdays or simple patterns). Turn off lock-screen notifications for apps or emails that might reveal your browsing habits.
4. The Safest Option
If you believe your phone or computer is being actively monitored with spyware or tracking software, a quick exit button will not hide your activity. The absolute safest method is to access our site from a device that the person has never had physical or remote access to - such as a school computer, a friend's phone, or a library terminal.
⚠️ A Note on Shared Wi-Fi and Network Logs
If you are using a home router managed by someone else, they may be able to check the network logs to see a list of websites visited on that Wi-Fi connection. A quick exit button or incognito window cannot hide network-level data. For total privacy from tech-savvy family members or roommates, we highly recommend viewing this site using your phone's cellular data instead of a shared home Wi-Fi network.