A healthy relationship requires respect between individuals. Each person is a being, not a possession of the other. When a person is feeling powerless or out of control, they may try to control their surroundings or the people around them in an effort to feel better. It is normal to want to have control over your schedule or your work, but when these behaviours extend to trying to control or manipulate another person, they become abusive.
Advancing technology has created new ways for a person to exert controlling behaviours.
People can use technology to bully, harass, stalk, intimidate, or control someone. This abuse can happen on or offline, and can happen in different relationships, for example, with family, friends, partners, colleagues, or landlords.
A lot of sensitive information is kept on physical documents, like your birth certificate, status card, passport, or landing document. Other sensitive information may be kept online and accessed through a password, like your personal photos, location history, documents you’ve shared by email, or accounts you keep online through websites. Both kinds of information need to be kept safe and confidential.
Ask your friends to always get your permission before posting content that could compromise your privacy. Do the same for them.
Once you share something online, it is no longer under your control, even if you delete it. Be careful sending content you wouldn’t want others to see.
It is okay to turn off your phone or to take some time to respond to messages. You are entitled to privacy.
It is inappropriate and potentially dangerous to expose intimate information about another person without their consent. For example, a person who is trans may be comfortable with you and talk freely about their experience. But that does not mean that they have told everyone in every area of their life that they are trans. Giving that information to the wrong person could subject them to transphobic abuse or violence. Other areas to be sensitive to include a person’s Indigenous status, immigration status, health information, and work history.
A healthy relationship requires respect between individuals. Each person is a being, not a possession of the other. When a person is feeling powerless or out of control, they may try to control their surroundings or the people around them in an effort to feel better. It is normal to want to have control over your schedule or your work, but when these behaviours extend to trying to control or manipulate another person, they become abusive.
Advancing technology has created new ways for a person to exert controlling behaviours.
People can use technology to bully, harass, stalk, intimidate, or control someone. This abuse can happen on or offline, and can happen in different relationships, for example, with family, friends, partners, colleagues, or landlords.
A lot of sensitive information is kept on physical documents, like your birth certificate, status card, passport, or landing document. Other sensitive information may be kept online and accessed through a password, like your personal photos, location history, documents you’ve shared by email, or accounts you keep online through websites. Both kinds of information need to be kept safe and confidential.
Ask your friends to always get your permission before posting content that could compromise your privacy. Do the same for them.
Once you share something online, it is no longer under your control, even if you delete it. Be careful sending content you wouldn’t want others to see.
It is okay to turn off your phone or to take some time to respond to messages. You are entitled to privacy.
It is inappropriate and potentially dangerous to expose intimate information about another person without their consent. For example, a person who is trans may be comfortable with you and talk freely about their experience. But that does not mean that they have told everyone in every area of their life that they are trans. Giving that information to the wrong person could subject them to transphobic abuse or violence. Other areas to be sensitive to include a person’s Indigenous status, immigration status, health information, and work history.
