How To Protect Your Privacy from AI-Enhanced Cyberstalking

In a world where we share so much of our lives online, the rise of AI has unfortunately given stalkers powerful new ways to track, impersonate, and harass you from behind a screen. As we observe National Stalking Awareness Month this January, it’s time to look at how these digital threats have changed and what simple steps you can take to keep your personal information truly private. Here's what you need to know:

The Evolution of Stalking in the Digital Age. Stalking, at its core, is a pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, and intimidation that causes a person to feel fear for their safety or the safety of others. Traditionally, stalking involved physical proximity, surveillance, and direct communication. However, the internet and smartphones ushered in an era of cyberstalking, where perpetrators could harass you online, through social media, email, and messaging apps. Now, with the advent of AI, the landscape of stalking is shifting once again, presenting new and complex challenges for victims, law enforcement, and support organizations. AI's ability to process vast amounts of your data, learn your patterns, and automate tasks can be weaponized by stalkers, making their actions more insidious, efficient, and difficult to detect. Here are several ways AI is affecting stalking:

• Public Data Scraping: AI-powered tools can autonomously scrape public data from social media, news articles, forums, and other online sources to build detailed profiles of victims. This includes collecting information about routines, preferences, social connections, and even sensitive personal details.

• Predictive Behavior Analysis: AI algorithms can analyze collected data to identify patterns in a victim's behavior, predicting their movements, online activity, and even emotional states. This allows stalkers to anticipate actions and tailor their harassment more effectively.

• Facial Recognition and Object Detection: While not yet commonplace for individual stalkers, advancements in AI-driven facial recognition and object detection could theoretically be used with publicly available camera feeds or hacked systems to track a victim's movements in real-time.

• Location Data Exploitation: AI can analyze vast amounts of location data from various sources (e.g., public Wi-Fi logs, social media check-ins, even smart device data if compromised) to piece together a comprehensive picture of a victim's whereabouts.

• AI-Generated Content: Stalkers could use AI to generate highly convincing fake messages, emails, or social media posts designed to impersonate the victim or others, spreading misinformation, damaging reputations, or creating social isolation.

• Automated Communication: AI chatbots or scripts could be deployed to send incessant, harassing messages across multiple platforms, overwhelming the victim without direct, constant effort from the stalker.

• Synthetic Media: AI-powered deepfake technology can create realistic fake audio or video of a victim saying or doing things they never did. This can be used for blackmail, public shaming, or to manipulate others into believing false narratives. AI can learn and mimic a person's voice, potentially allowing a stalker to make calls or leave messages impersonating the victim or someone they know, causing confusion or distress.

Here are some actionable tips you can use to prevent cyberstalking. These focus on closing the digital loopholes that stalkers (and AI-powered tools) often exploit.

Lockdown Your Social Presence. Digital "breadcrumbs" are a stalker’s primary resource.

• Go Private: Ensure all your social media profiles (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) are set to "Private."

• Audit Your Followers: Remove anyone you don't know personally or don't trust. Stalkers often use "sock puppet" (fake) accounts to stay in your circle.

• The "Vague-Book" Rule: Avoid posting real-time "check-ins" or photos with identifiable landmarks (street signs, specific storefronts). Post about your vacation or dinner after you have left the location.

• Remove Geotags: Disable "Location Services" for your camera app so your photos don't embed GPS coordinates in the metadata.

  
  

Scrub Your Public Data. AI tools excel at "scraping" the web for your info. You need to make yourself a hard target.

• Google Yourself: See what pops up. You might find your home address on "People Search" or data broker sites (like Whitepages or Spokeo).

• Use Data Removal Services: Consider services like DeleteMe or Incogni, which automatically send opt-out requests to data brokers to remove your personal details from the web.

• Check "Safety Check" (iOS): If you use an iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check. This allows you to quickly see who has access to your location and app data and revoke it instantly.

Strengthen Your Technical Barriers. AI can be used to guess passwords or "brute force" accounts.

• Unique Passwords: Never reuse a password. Use a Password Manager (like Bitwarden or 1Password) to generate and store 16+ character random strings. Also, switch to passphrases or passkeys to keep your online accounts secure.

• MFA is Non-Negotiable: Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on every account—especially email and social media. Use an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator) rather than SMS/text codes, which can be intercepted.

• Use a VPN: When using public Wi-Fi, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) masks your IP address, making it harder for someone to track your physical location or digital activity.

Protect Against AI-Specific Threats

• Voice & Image Privacy: Be cautious about posting high-quality videos of yourself speaking. These can be used to "train" AI voice-cloning tools for impersonation.

• Watermark Your Photos: If you have a public portfolio, use invisible watermarking tools (like Steg.AI) to help identify if your images are being used in deepfakes.

• Reverse Image Search: Periodically use Google Lens or TinEye on your profile pictures to see if they are being used to create fake accounts or "catfishing" profiles.

If You Are Being Targeted

• Document Everything: Do not delete harassing messages. Take screenshots that include the date, time, and the sender's handle/IP address.

• Go "No Contact": Do not respond, even to tell them to stop. Any engagement (even negative) provides the stalker with the "hit" of attention they crave.

• Trust Your Instincts: If someone seems to know "too much" about your day, assume your digital security has been compromised and seek professional help from organizations like the National Center for Victims of Crime.

As we observe National Stalking Awareness Month, let’s commit to staying vigilant against the evolving threats of AI and reclaiming our digital privacy. By shining a light on these tactics and supporting survivors, we can ensure that technology remains a tool for connection rather than a weapon for intimidation.

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About Burton Kelso. Burton Kelso is the Chief Technology Expert at Integral, a computer repair and managed IT services company that for over 30 years has focused on helping people, not just computers, by building relationships and turning bad days into good ones, not just the technology. He is also a Top 2x TEDx Keynote Speaker and Expert on Cybersecurity, AI, and Digital Marketing as well as an On-Air TV Tech Expert appearing on TV and Radio stations all over the globe. He loves technology, he's read all of the manuals and he's serious about making technology fun, safe, and easy to use for everyone.

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