Online privacy tips for sex workers
Top tips for staying safe online
Online safety and privacy are more important than ever. We spoke to Taylor, the Digital Engagement Development Worker from MASH for some expert advice on how sex workers can stay safe online.
Stay anonymous
Use a persona/work name for everything – never tell a client your real name. Use image blurring tools to blur out your face, visible tattoos or birthmarks. You can also use Adobe or there are various free apps on both Android and Ios. Avoid giving clients your address unless absolutely necessary; if you want to receive gifts or money, consider setting up a POBox; you can rent these for a small fee every month and clients cannot find your real name or address that is associated with it.
Use Separate Devices
If possible, have a separate device for work, ideally both a phone and laptop that are password protected. Your work phone doesn’t have to be fancy; a simple and cheap smartphone will do just fine. Use a pay as you go SIM card and register it to your work name and email, rather than your legal name.
Be Password Smart
Have different passwords for your work devices than your personal devices – this means that if somebody in your everyday life knows your password, they cannot access your work device. You can use password management apps to keep track of your passwords safely (don’t just save them on your phone).
Browse & Chat in Private
If you only have one device, use ‘Incognito’ on Chrome to browse the internet when accessing work related websites. If you are extra concerned about security, use encrypted apps such as Whatsapp or Signal to communicate with clients where you can. This is to protect you from spyware, IP/location tracing or hacking.
Be Social Smart
Never login to your personal Instagram or Facebook using the same phone that you use for work social media; the software that Facebook and Instagram use may suggest your work profiles to your personal friends and family. If you can, use a photo on your personal social media that doesn’t show your face. Keep all personal social media on private.
Reverse Image Search
Use unique photos in your adverts and work social media; all it takes is a reverse image search of the photo to bring up your personal social media accounts. You can also use this function yourself to check if any of your content has been stolen and/or uploaded on the internet.
Keep Payments Untraceable
Set up a business bank account to take payments if you can; this is really easy to do and you can register the bank account as a trading name. Make this trading name non-descriptive eg SWLimited. You can also take anonymous payments through Amazon gift card sent to your work email, without revealing your real name. Get gift cards sent to your work email for extra privacy when taking deposits or payment for content etc.
Don’t Sync It
Back up all intimate images for work to a secure place such as Dropbox, with its own password. Places like the Cloud cannot be trusted as they tend to sync with other devices.
Mark Your Territory
Watermark all content that you post online. Some websites (e.g Only Fans) do this for you, but you can also find free apps that you can use to do this. If your online content gets uploaded online, consider using the DMCA takedown service. Additionally, you can place a DMCA icon on your page for free, which may discourage clients from downloading and sharing your content, knowing that you will not tolerate theft of your content.
Get Support
Reach out for help if you need it. Intimate image abuse is something online sex workers face every day and it is illegal – no matter what you do for work, you reserve the right to not have your content stolen or shared.