Reduce the risks of the law digitally

At first, you cannot face any punishment without evidence, and therefore you can reduce the risk of the law on your lives, by erasing your traces and not leaving evidence on you, and in Iraq, where it is difficult for LGBT people to express themselves, so they resort to the virtual world, which makes digital security one of the most important topics that we advise LGBTI:


- Never give your phone to security agents, and if you have to, break it or throw it out of the car window or others, it is important not to give them evidence،
- Do not talk about anything related to the LGBT community on social networking sites on your personal accounts, as well as do not interfere in discussions about the topic with other people in the comments section, so that someone does not photograph it and consider it as evidence that can be used against you in the future.
- Avoid sharing your location and number with anyone, and even delivery requests, we advise you to order from another phone at home,or like as asking your brother to do the order.
- Do not use dating apps as much as possible, and do not go out on dates with people you do not know or take your friends strong personal knowledge.
- Remove all photos, files and applications on your phones that may be used as evidence against you, or transfer them to a memory and keep them in a safe place that only you know.
- Do not post photos or videos of you as much as possible, and if you post, try not to make your queer identity clear in them
- Do not send your photos to people with whom you do not have a close relationship, even if those photos are not queer.
- Turn your accounts into private, and cancel every fake account or person you don't know well.
- Do not leave your mobile without a passcode, in addition, put them near you always, so that no one can search them behind your back.
- Do not click on any link or image sent to you by someone you do not know. Because it may be mined and at the time you click on it, the sender gets your information, location, name, type of phone and many other sensitive information.
- Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, or those that do not have a passcode.
- Use secondary authentication for all your accounts, for greater protection
- Change passcodes for your accounts, choose new and complex codes.
- Use vpn applications when you use the internet
- Updating the applications and the system periodically and continuously, to fill all existing gaps
- Delete apps that you don't use but are still in your phones.
- Use more secure messaging applications, such as the signal application to communicate with your friends, instead of WhatsApp or Messenger. Because these applications provide secure encrypted conversations that no one can hack
- Delete messages and conversations between you and your friends periodically and continuously, so that there is no evidence against you in the event that something unloved happened to you.
- Communicate with local organizations or those located in the countries of the region that specialize in providing digital support in case of any emergency, but before that you must be sure that this organization is safe for members of the LGBT community.
- Not to sell your mobile or laptop , but to keep them with you, get rid of them, so that no one can access their deleted content, which contains your private and sensitive information
- Make an hour or half an hour of each day as a special time to read more about the topic of digital security and its many details.


If you apply the above remarks, then you have been able to reduce the risk of the law on your lives to more than ٩٠%؜ of its real danger only digitally, and you have reduced the chance of anyone obtaining evidence of you that can be used against you, as we hope you are taking these steps as a lifestyle in this difficult situation to maintain your security and safety.