Recovery: digital safety after exit
Practical digital-safety steps in the weeks after leaving — shared accounts, monitored devices, social-media exposure, and harassment risk from inside the group.
Introduction
Digital safety matters more for some ex-member situations than others. Ex-members of online-first groups, ex-members of groups known for retaliation against critics, and ex-members of households where devices were shared face specific risks. Even where retaliation is unlikely, the basic hygiene below makes the first months smoother.
First-week digital hygiene
- Change passwords on every account, starting with email and banking.
- Enable two-factor authentication on email and banking accounts.
- Review and remove sessions on social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc. all have an 'active sessions' settings page).
- If you shared a phone or laptop with anyone still in the group, treat the device as compromised and set up a new one if possible.
- Consider a new email address for sensitive accounts.
Social media exposure
Before posting publicly about the exit, lock down account privacy. Many ex-members later regret early public statements made in the first weeks. /guides/digital-safety-when-researching-high-control-groups covers the general patterns; /tactics/reputation-attacks-against-ex-members covers retaliation patterns.
If harassment starts
Document each incident (screenshot with date, who sent it, what platform). Report to the platform. In serious cases — threats, doxxing, sustained harassment — consult an independent solicitor and local police. /resources/legal-and-safeguarding lists routes.
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