Digital Spying and Divorce

Digital Spying and Divorce

Technology is everywhere, and it tends to make life easier. After all, you can keep an eye on your pets when you’re at work, keep tabs on your kids when they are out and about, control your thermostat remotely, and see who visits your front door from literally anywhere. When all this convenience is turned against you in a divorce, however, it can be a different story entirely. 

Digital spying during a divorce has become a thing, and whatever your soon-to-be ex’s motivation, he or she probably won’t have any trouble spying on you electronically – especially if you share a phone plan, you own property together, or you simply have access to one another’s electronics. Divorce is difficult enough, but digital spying can take the matter to the next level – consult with an experienced Chicago divorce attorney today.

Minimize Your Risk

You may think it’s a bit of a stretch to imagine your divorcing spouse engaging in a practice as underhanded as digital spying, but you also may be underestimating exactly how stressful divorce can be. In fact, divorce can push people who seem perfectly reasonable to do things that are anything but, which means that it’s a good idea to minimize your risk when it comes to digital spying. An excellent place to start – if you want to help reduce your risk of falling prey – is having a tech professional check for spyware installations on your electronic devices and having him or her ensure that your privacy settings are where they need to be.  

Steps to Take

Even if you are confident that your spouse isn’t overtly spying on you online, there are some basic privacy-related housekeeping practices that you are well-advised to adopt, including:

• Create a new email account that you use solely for private, divorce-related communications, such as with your divorce attorney. To increase the level of security, adopt a unique username and password that you’ve never used before. 
• Give your smart home devices, which are more easily breached, a break while your divorce pends.
• Try to stay off your social media accounts as your divorce proceeds. It’s far too easy to inadvertently provide your soon-to-be-ex with information that can be misconstrued or manipulated into evidence that will be used against you – or that simply fuels the divorce fire (which very likely does not need fueling). 

While it may feel silly to take extreme precautions, better to be safe than sorry. Further, technology has become so integral to our lives that you may not recognize where your vulnerabilities are if you don’t slow down and take the time to implement basic precautions.       

An Experienced Chicago Divorce Attorney Can Help

If you’re heading into a divorce, the accomplished Chicago divorce attorneys at Andrea Heckman Law are well prepared to help you protect your parental and financial rights from the outset of your divorce to finalization. To learn more about how we can help protect your privacy and rights, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.