Digital Safety Tips and Resources
A list of curated external resources and quick safety hacks to help keep you safe and secure while engaging online.
General Safety Resources
The following resources offer a broad overview of ways you can keep yourself safe while engaging online.
Safe, Secure, Online Resources for Education
This is a large catalogue of digital safety resources including social media checklists and university students’ fact sheets.
Safe, Secure, Online Resources for Education
UK Safer Internet Centre Resource for Young People
This website offers top tips and interactive resources to help young people (ages 11-19) stay safe online.
UK Safer Internet Centre Resources for Young People
Feminist Frequency
Feminist Frequency provides a comprehensive guide about how to keep yourself safe from individuals, loosely organized groups and cybermobs online.
Speak Up and Stay Safe(r): A Guide to Protecting Yourself from Online Harassment
Police Scotland
Police Scotland are committed to helping create Safer Virtual Communities and offer some helpful guidance on how to keep yourself secure online, as well as how to avoid online phishing scams and what to do if you’ve been the victim of a cybercrime.
Police Scotland: Keep Secure Online
Police Scotland: Avoiding Phishing Scams
Police Scotland: Report Cybercrime
BBC WebWise
This website offers helpful information and guidance on online security, safety and privacy rights, and online safety tips for parents to keep young children secure.
Online Dating
Match.com provide guidance to ensure you stay safe online throughout your dating journey. Be sure to have a look at the following resources if you’re on Tinder, Match.com or any other website apps or websites.
Match.com Online Dating Advice for Students
Match.com Staying Safe While Online Dating
Match.com How to Spot a Scammer
Digital Safety Guides
Information Security Top 10 Online Safety Tips
The University’s Information Security team have put together a helpful “top 10” list of quick and easy digital safety tips to help keep you and your devices safe and secure.
Information Security Top 10 Online Safety Tips
Guide to Internetting While Female
Anita Sarkeesian’s short guide to help you identify different forms of gendered online harassment and bullying
Guide to Internetting While Female
The Guardian – digital safety tips
Find The Guardian’s top safety tips for how to keep yourself safe while surfing the web at the following resources.
10 ways to keep your personal data safe from online snoopers
20 ways to keep your internet identity safe from hackers
Twitter Users: A Guide to the Law
This helpful BBC guide introduces you to some of the digital safety concerns brought up on Twitter, including libel, offensive comments, breaking a court order, and reporting sex offenses.
Twitter users: A guide to the law
Digital Citizenship Resources
Educate Yourself: Online Racial Equity Workshops (Eventbrite)
This collection of online events, curated by Eventbrite, aims to provide a platform for events and conversations centering on racial injustices and inequality. Check out the events listed and learn more about what you can do to stand for a more equitable society both online and off.
Online Racial Equity Workshops (Eventbrite)
Spot Racism Online: A Practical Guide (The Light On Project)
This practical guide, designed with support from the European Commission, shines a light on online hate speech, offering suggestions for how to report it and mobilise your community to take further action.
Spot Racism Online: A Practical Guide
Dealing with Online Racism (BBC Own It)
This web hub offers helpful resources on managing your mental health and reporting offensive content if you have been affected by racism online.
Dealing with Online Racism (BBC Own It)
The Empower Project: Supporting Communities to End Gender Based Violence
The Empower Project is a local Edinburgh charity committed to supporting communities to end gender based violence with a focus on online abuse in the digital age. Check out their website for more information on upcoming events and workshops.
Stop Online Abuse
This website offers a range of information on online abuse and harassment with particular resources on sexism, homophobia and biphobia, and transphobia.
The LGBTQ+ Guide to Online Safety
This online guide offers a range of guidance for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies, from finding community online to navigating cyberbullying on social media.
The LGBTQ+ Guide to Online Safety
Recognising and Reporting Disability Hate Crime (Scope)
This online guide offers helpful information on recognizing and reporting disability hate crime including a range of support resources.
Recognising and Reporting Disability Hate Crime
Zen and the Art of Making Tech Work for You (Tactical Technology Collective)
This billigual manual sourced from a community of women, activists and technologists offers a virtual library of information devoted to strengthening and protecting your online presence and creating safe and collaborative online spaces.
Zen and the Art of Making Tech Work for You
Videos on Digital Citizenship and Wellbeing
Curated YouTube videos and TED Talks from professionals working in digital media and cyber security.
Who owns your data?
This helpful video talks about privacy and ownership in the digital age.
'Who owns your data? (Hint: It’s not you)' (YouTube)
Jon Ronson TED Talk: When online shaming goes too far
Author Jon Ronson asks us to rethink how we interact online in this video, which looks at the consequences of online shaming on Twitter.
'When online shaming goes too far'
Anita Sarkeesian at TEDxWomen 2012
Feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian examines gaming culture and discusses being the victim of an online hate campaign.
Anita Sarkeesian TED Talk (YouTube)
Tips for staying safe when shopping online
Busy retail periods such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a key time for fraudsters to act. Banks estimate that nearly 25% of 18 to 34-year-olds have fallen for a Black Friday scam in the past five years, losing an average of £661. Here are some tips to keep you safe while shopping.
1. Go to the source: Go straight to the retailer’s website rather than clicking on a potentially unsafe link
2. Avoid “too good to be true” deals: These are usually an attempt to lure you into giving your personal data
3. Pay with a credit card: Credit cards offer better protection against financial fraud than debit cards
4. Connect with caution: Public wi-fi connections are not secure; avoid doing your banking in public!
5. Don’t rush: Take your time when online shopping and ensure the site if legitimate before entering personal information, even when a deal appears to be time sensitive
6. It’s not always cheaper: Just because a retailer tells you the price has been slashed by however much doesn’t mean it’s true! Compare your options before committing to a purchase
© Victoria Madden, University of Edinburgh, 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, unless otherwise indicated.