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Website safety

Website safety

What this site does to protect you, what it cannot do, and how to browse more privately.

Online activity can be monitored. Phones, computers and accounts can be watched through shared plans, family-sharing settings, spyware, or simply by someone who knows your password. Private or incognito browsing hides history from that device only — it does not hide activity from monitoring software, from whoever owns the account or the plan, or from a network administrator.

If you think someone may be watching your device, the safest option is a device that person has never had access to — a library computer, a friend’s phone, or a workplace machine where that is allowed.

The Quick exit button

Every page on this site has a Quick exit button. Pressing it, or pressing Esc twice quickly, sends this browser tab straight to a weather website. There is no confirmation step and no delay.

What it does not do: it does not erase your browsing history, and it cannot remove this site from a record kept somewhere else. Please read the steps below as well.

What this website does not collect

No advertising pixels, no Meta, TikTok, Google Ads or similar trackers
No session recording, heatmaps or behavioral analytics
No cookies set by this site
No location requests
No account required to read anything here
No third-party fonts, scripts or embeds — every asset is served from this site

Read the full privacy notice.

Clearing your tracks, carefully

A history that is suddenly empty can itself look suspicious to someone who checks. Deleting individual entries is often safer than clearing everything.

Chrome: ⋮ menu → History → hover an entry → ⋮ → Remove from history
Safari: History → Show All History → right-click an entry → Delete
Firefox: Library → History → Manage History → right-click → Delete Page
Edge: Settings → History → hover an entry → X
iPhone / Android: open the browser’s History list and swipe or long-press a single entry to remove it

Wider device safety

Check location sharing in your phone settings and inside individual apps
Check family-sharing, "find my" features and shared photo albums
Change passwords from a device the other person has never used, and update security questions too
Turn off message previews on your lock screen
Remember that a phone bill can show numbers called and texted
Cars, smart speakers, doorbells and thermostats can also record location and activity

The National Network to End Domestic Violence maintains detailed guidance at techsafety.org.

Right now

If you need to talk to someone right now

These are statewide and national services. They are free, confidential, available 24 hours a day, and none of them is operated by Maxine’s Arms. To reach Maxine’s Arms directly, call 773-243-5464.

National Domestic Violence Hotline

Support for anyone affected by relationship abuse — including people who are unsure whether what they are experiencing counts.

800-799-SAFE (7233) Or text START to 88788 · TTY 1-800-787-3224 · thehotline.org

Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline

Illinois’ statewide 24-hour hotline. Call, text or chat with an advocate who can connect you to a program anywhere in the state.

877-863-6338 877-TO END DV · 240+ languages · the-network.org

StrongHearts Native Helpline

Culturally appropriate support for Native Americans and Alaska Natives affected by domestic, dating and sexual violence.

844-7NATIVE 844-762-8483 · strongheartshelpline.org

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline

For survivors of sexual assault, by phone or online chat, routed to a provider near you.

800-656-HOPE 800-656-4673 · rainn.org

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Free, confidential support during any mental health or emotional crisis, by call or text.

988 Call or text 988 · 988lifeline.org

If you are in immediate danger or facing a life-threatening emergency, call 911.