Cyber – Resources

Cyberstalking: Dangers on the Information Superhighway
By Trudy M. Gregorie, Director of Training
National Center for Victims of Crime, 2001

Resources

Victims of on-line harassment and threats, often in collaboration with victim service providers, have had to fill the void of available resources and assistance by developing their own informal support networks and informational web sites to share strategies about how to respond to these crimes.

One such program is Women Halting Online Abuse (WHOA), which was founded by women to educate the Internet community about on-line harassment. WHOA also educates the on-line community to develop web site resources, including the creation of a safe-site and unsafe-site list to enable Internet users to make informed decisions, and providing information about how users can protect themselves against on-line harassment. You can contact WHOA at: www.haltabuse.org
E-mail address: whoa@femail.com; whoa@haltabuse.org
Other on-line resources include:

CyberAngels: A nonprofit group devoted to assisting victims of on-line harassment and stalking. www.cyberangels.org

Safety Ed International: A nonprofit organization assisting the Internet community and providing specific advice, resources, and information to victims being harassed or stalked online. www.safetyed.org

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: A nonprofit consumer and advocacy program that offers consumers a unique opportunity to learn how to protect their personal privacy. PRC’s services include a hotline for consumers to report privacy abuses and to request information on ways to protect their privacy. They have also produced fact sheets on privacy issues including Factsheet #14, entitled “Are You Being Stalked? Tips for Your Protection” and Factsheet # 18, entitled, “Privacy in Cyberspace.” www.privacyrights.org

Online Privacy Alliance: A coalition of more than 80 global companies and associationscommitted to promoting the privacy of individuals on-line. Its purpose is to define privacy policy for the new electronic medium and foster an on-line environment that respects consumer privacy. Available on this web site are resources for consumers, model Internet privacy policies, and news stories about recent on-line privacy violations and issues. www.privacyalliance.com

Network Solutions’ WHOIS: An Internet company which provides searches in its registrar database to assist persons in determining the contents of a domain name registration record found in the header of a received e-mail. The result will provide the contact information for sender’s Internet service provider.
www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois

Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Affairs Department: A resource site for consumer information from the federal government, including contact information if you have been the victim of identity theft or misuse of a social security number and fraudulent credit card accounts.
www.consumer.gov/idtheft
FTC hotline: 877-IDTHEFT
Social Security Number Fraud Line: 800-269-0271