I think someone knows what I am doing on my computer and I don’t know how it is possible. What I should do to become again the only owner of my data?

You found out that your communication is leaking to people that should not see it. You noticed that some people know about private documents you have written on your computer. You think someone has access to the content of your computer and you do not know how it is possible.

What to do

First, make sure this is not a human error, which means that the information is not disclosed by some other people whom you trust and with whom you share it. If you are positive it is not a human error, then:

1. Who can have physical access to your computer, at your home, workplace or other places ? Protect the desktop with a password or change the password if you already use one.
2. If you are using wifi to connect to the internet, make sure that the wifi connection is password-protected and encrypted and not just anyone can log-in and use it.
3. If the information that is leaking is related to your external communication (e.g. emailing, chatting, internet browsing, etc.) your communication could be being monitored by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the company that you get your internet connectivity from. If you conclude that this is a possibility and think the ISP might be handing information about your communication over to authorities, do the following:
• Consider changing ISPs if there is a reason to believe that the new company would protect better your privacy.
• Connect from other connectivity hotspots that are not likely to be monitored.
• Use anonymising techniques, such as TOR.
• Use encryption for all your communication
• If you suspect that someone can see documents that you do not send over internet or everything you do on your computer, your computer is probably ”hijacked” by someone who has access to some of your information, or even full access to your computer.
• Make sure your antivirus software is installed and properly updated. Do a full scan of your computer.
• Make sure you have a working firewall in place.

Where to find more help

See how to secure your own wifi network
See what is antivirus software and how to use it
See what is anti-spyware software and how to use it
See what is firewall and how to use it
See how to browse internet securely (through encrypted connection) using Https Everywhere Firefox and Chrome plugin
See how to change security setting of your Gmail account
See details on what is anonymisation and circumvention system TOR and see how it works.

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