Putting an End to Technology Abuse

By Kimberly Bishop | Corporate Responsibility

NortonLifeLock has long focused on empowering domestic violence victims and survivors. Stalkerware apps can be used to stalk, harass, and harm people and we work to give victims and potential victims tools to help protect themselves from harassment and violence. We are a founding member of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, which pairs our expertise in stalkerware and policy advice on the importance of supporting domestic violence victims and survivors with domestic violence organizations and other cybersecurity companies. The Coalition was formed to help keep malicious technology like Stalkerware and Creepware out of the hands of abusers.

In 2021, we’ve furthered our efforts, and have provided a $75,000 grant to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to support its Technology Safety program, Safety Net. NNEDV is a social change organization, dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which domestic violence no longer exists. The organization works to make domestic abuse a national priority, changing the way communities respond while strengthening political efforts against intimate partner violence.

NNEDV’s full-spectrum work includes support for transitional housing, addressing the intersection of HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, strengthening survivors’ financial capabilities, and focusing on how technology and abuse have become intertwined.

Building on more than twenty years of experience addressing the intersection of technology and abuse, NNEDV’s Safety Net project provides expert education and training to advocates, those working with survivors, and the public on maintaining safety and privacy, as well as tactics of technology misuse and offender accountability. Through Safety Net, NNEDV also advocates for policies and tech designs that effectively and thoughtfully address tech abuse. Safety Net maintains several online toolkits that contain resources, tip-sheets, and adaptable templates for service providers, and hosts an annual Technology Summit.

To date, Safety Net has trained well over 115,000 people, ranging from judges and police officers to technology companies and victim advocates, on technology safety-related issues. Most importantly, 85%+ of Safety Net’s training participants report an increase in capacity to support survivors and think strategically about technology.

With help from NortonLifeLock, those numbers will only continue to grow. With this new grant, we’ll help provide engaging, interactive trainings that improve the privacy related needs of survivors. We’ll also provide comprehensive, specialized assistance to support the increasingly complex work of local victim services programs and other professionals who are assisting survivors with technology abuse and privacy risks. NNEDV estimates that over 62,000 people will be served by this grant, in addition to those helped by our existing participation in the Coalition Against Stalkerware.

We look forward to sharing updates as this grant progresses and will continue to champion the work that NNEDV does to help end domestic violence and abuse.

To learn more about NNEDV, please visit https://nnedv.org