Refuge's Tech Safety Newsletter September 2024
Tech Safety Summit 2024
Join Refuge for our virtual Tech Safety Summit on September 24th and 25th 2024.
The event focuses on understanding how technology is being misused by abusers to inflict harm, offering attendees the chance to hear directly from survivors. Industry experts will lead engaging discussions and workshops, sharing insights into the latest strategies and solutions to combat these forms of abuse. Participants will have the opportunity to network with professionals, access valuable resources, and form partnerships, all while being empowered to make a meaningful difference for survivors of domestic abuse. For more information and tickets, visit our website here.
Parliamentarian seeks to change law on intimate image abuse
Baroness Owen is introducing a Private Members Bill in the House of Lords on intimate image abuse. The aim of the legislation is to introduce new criminal offences of creating, or soliciting the creation of, sexually explicit deepfakes, as well as offences of taking of intimate images without consent. The first reading of the Bill is on 6 September.
End Violence Against Women Coalition: Stop Image-Based Abuse campaign
The End Violence Against Women Coalition, #NotYourPorn and Professor Clare McGlynn launched a campaign in June to demand a dedicated Image-Based Abuse law. The campaign is calling on the government to protect women’s rights and freedoms online. You can find out more here, on the End Violence Against Women Coalition website.
Smart cars and survivors
Smart cars are nothing new. From as early as 1996, manufacturers were beginning to find ways to connect our vehicles in one way or another. Initially growing out of a safety and assistance movement, we now live in an era where our vehicles are almost as connected as our mobile phones. Whilst having the reassurance that your vehicle could call emergency services in the event of an accident was a development for good, we know that where there are advancements in technology, bad actors will look for ways to turn technology into a tool of abuse. And of course, where there’s a connection, there are people who will look to hack into it – back in 2015 a wired journalist worked with hackers in America to see what they could do with a smart car. Needless to say, the hack was a success, with hackers able to control interior setting and reportedly, even cut the engine. Typical functions of a smart enabled vehicle include being able to control the cars climate from afar (no more chilly winter morning drives), to being able to identify where your car has been parked in whatever megastore you’ve just visited. Conveniences for most, but for survivors these are all potential routes to abuse. Survivors fleeing domestic abuse may not be aware that their smart enabled car is linked to their perpetrator. They could be watching each journey, taking note of where they park at a supermarket, watching the fuel consumption and using this as a method of remote tracking. When working with support agencies to end the abuse, survivors may visit local services, like police, solicitors, or specialist domestic abuse organisations. A history of parking information could provide a perpetrator with all the information they need to identify that their partner is seeking support, and risk escalating their abuse. Survivors fleeing abuse often give up their home, their neighbourhood, friends, their children’s schools, and places of employment just to get away safely. The smart car has the potential to give away a survivor’s new area or refuge accommodation, not only putting them at risk of harm but meaning they must start fresh all over again. The issue is not with the development of safer cars, or vehicles that offer us convenience, but with how this is implemented. Survivors have reported to us that there is no clear setting they can access that identifies accounts and devices linked to a vehicle, let alone remove the connection. Survivors have been found in new, supposedly safe areas with no clue how it happened until they looked at the smart car. Smart technology isn’t so smart when it’s not transparent and easy to navigate. Support services and accommodation services need to be aware of the risks a smart car poses so it can be assessed and planned, before a survivor flees, and vehicle manufacturers need urgently to adopt a VAWG centred approach to smart car design.
Refuge, In Conversation With… Kairos
Our latest podcast is hosted by Katie from Refuge, joined by guest speaker Hannah rom Kairos, a specialist organisation that support women who are subject to, or at risk of sexual exploitation. Listen to the full episode on our Spotify.