Is Your Own Technology Working Against You in Your Divorce or Custody Case?
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Photo Description: Person holding a phone with an open laptop on a desk showing a Facebook homepage.
The convenience of smart phones, computers and the internet are fantastic tools for modern times. However, when contemplating a divorce or going through a custody battle, you may want to consider steps to be taken to protect yourself and your privacy. Here are a few tips to consider.
Text Messages: You words may be used against you. However, the opposite is also true, the text messages and emails that your spouse sends you can also be used against him/her. It goes without saying that you should never threaten any type of violence.
You also want to keep any incriminating text messages and emails. Also, note that your spouse may try to bait you into saying something that you will regret later. Consider whether you need to respond and whether your response can be limited.
Apps: 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 social media tracking services, 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.
Social Media: You may want 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.
Consider whether you may want to make it more difficult for your spouse to view your posts by unfriending them and anyone who might help them view your profile. Review your account privacy setting to make sure only the people you want viewing your profile are able to do so. 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 through discovery and other measures and present them in court. Because social media posts are never truly private, you should always be careful what you post.
Email: You should consider getting a new email address and a new password. One of your first priorities should be ensuring that your spouse cannot see communications like emails and text messages to your lawyer. Also consider changing the passwords for any email accounts and the unlock codes for your phone and other devices.
While we are on the email topic: Work emails (especially if you own a business that your spouse may have an interest in) could be ‘discovered’ through requests. In other words, your spouse and/or his/her attorney could end up having access to emails you’ve sent from this address. Here are some steps you could take to ensure your online security:
Create a new email address to communicate with your lawyer.
Change the passwords to all of your existing email accounts.
Check the connections to the cloud.
When you consult or hire an attorney, let them now if it is ok to send mail addressed to you to your home address.
Additional Security: At the same time you are changing passwords, you should consider setting 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 makes it harder for someone to guess a password for a site and getting in without you knowing.
Passwords: Consider using a secure password manager such as 1Password, LastPass, or BitWarden. Not only do these password managers store your passwords securely, but many will generate secure passwords for you.
It is important that you keep yourself, your identity and your accounts safe.