Several years ago, early in my career at AT&T, I was speaking with a customer from a small New England town about a standard network matter. Before our conversation ended, the customer asked if she could share an unrelated story about problem she had with her personal wireless plan.
I anticipated the usual tale of customer frustration, but what she told me was unexpected.
The customer was leaving an abusive relationship, and her shared wireless plan presented challenges. Her story revealed the increasingly complicated intersection of connected technology, hardware, software and domestic violence.
Our conversation took me back to my days as a former assistant attorney general, where I worked on legal and policy issues related to domestic violence. While only a few years removed from that role, the landscape had clearly changed because of the proliferation of connected technology.
I came away from this interaction with a string of questions, including if there were ways to better support the digital safety of survivors. At the time, I was unaware that this customer’s experience — and her decision to reveal it to me — would jumpstart a multiyear project to highlight dangers lurking in the digital shadows.
I brought my questions to domestic violence prevention advocates and public safety leaders in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. One dynamic became clear: That customer was not alone. Advocates articulated how her experience was common in many ways. They explained how technology can be used in abusive relationships to control, stalk and harass current or ex-partners. What’s more, as technology continuously evolves, its use in abusive behavior continues, too. Tech abuse had emerged as one of the most pressing problems in the domestic violence space.
Led by numerous domestic violence prevention advocates and AT&T’s tech experts, we collaborated to bring awareness to the problem and provide resources. In Rhode Island, The Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center, and in Massachusetts, Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, Mass General Brigham’s’ Passageway and HAVEN programs, and many others, added their knowledge to what ultimately became a new digital safety initiative.
Launched November in Rhode Island and February in Boston, the initiative spotlights potential hazards and aims to empower survivors with information to more securely engage with connected tech. It consists of an ongoing series of in-person and virtual presentations offered to members of the advocacy community, law enforcement, health care institutions and others who serve survivors. Most recently, a presentation was held in April at the Gardner Police Department with the Gardner Domestic Violence Task Force.
The presentation highlights the potential vulnerabilities of wireless devices and data, and related linked accounts. Topics covered include the operation of shared accounts; device settings that are relevant to domestic violence; and information on apps.
The material also seeks to spread awareness about The Safe Connections Act, which Congress enacted to ease the steps between providers and survivors trying to separate wireless accounts. The act makes it easier for survivors to separate from a plan shared with an abusive partner; to keep their phone number; and benefit from privacy and security safeguards.
While inherently neither good nor bad, technology can be misused to control, harass or intimidate others. Awareness of the digital landscape and its intricacies is crucial to promote safety for domestic violence survivors and strengthen individualized safety planning strategies.
We’re grateful for the tireless efforts of the advocates who support domestic violence survivors every day, and for their collaboration on this new initiative. We look forward to implementing it alongside them and getting information to those who need it most.
Our gratitude extends especially to the one survivor whose courage and story led to the creation of an innovative, multistate awareness effort.
Edmund Donnelly is the director of external affairs for AT&T Massachusetts. For more information visit, attconnects.com/getting-digital-safety-resources-in-more-hands.
Read the original article on MassLive.
