Accessing LGBTQ+ support online should feel safe. If you live in a country where being LGBTQ+ carries legal or personal risk, knowing how to protect your privacy matters.
This page explains what common privacy tools actually do — and what they don’t.
- Stops your browser from saving your history, cookies, and form data on your device
- Makes it harder for someone casually checking your device to see what you searched or visited — but does not remove all traces from the device
- Hide your activity from your internet provider (ISP)
- Hide your activity from governments or authorities with access to ISP data
- Protect you if your device is monitored by spyware or employer/school software
- Encrypts the content of your traffic between your device and the VPN server — your internet provider can still see which sites you visit, but cannot see what you are doing on them
- Protects your traffic from others on the same open WiFi network — useful if you are browsing from a café, library, or other shared connection
- Can help you bypass geographic restrictions
- Make you fully anonymous — the VPN provider itself can see your traffic
- Protect you if the VPN provider shares data with authorities (some do, under legal pressure)
- Help if your device is already compromised
- Protect you from someone physically looking at your screen
If you need to leave this website quickly, press the Escape key three times or click the Quick Exit button at the top of the page. You will be redirected to Google immediately.
No tool offers a complete guarantee of privacy. A private browser window removes visible traces from your browser, but someone with technical skills and physical access to your device may still be able to recover information. A VPN hides the content of your traffic from your internet provider, but not which sites you visit — and you are placing your trust in the VPN provider instead, who may be subject to legal pressure to share data.
The most important step is using a device that only you control, and clearing your browser history after every visit.
If you need support and are concerned about your safety, reach out to the organisation you are contacting and ask them how they recommend communicating securely. Many LGBTQ+ organisations in high-risk regions are experienced in helping people connect safely.