For sex workers a smartphone is more than just a phone: it’s a booking tool, a payment device, and a safety line—as well as a private collection of marketing videos and images. All of these uses make smartphone security even more important for sex workers than for the general population.
Good smartphone security works in layers, with the aim of making it difficult for anyone else to access your information, connect your work life to your personal life, or use your device against you. These layers form a strategy that reduces risk in ways that fit your work, your energy, and your budget, because perfect security is impossible, even for cybersecurity experts.
In this blog post I'll cover five common questions I hear from sex workers about how to stay safe when using their smartphone for work.
How do I stop someone from getting into my phone?
Using a strong PIN or passcode rather than relying only on your face or fingerprint makes it harder for someone to get into your phone. A longer PIN—preferably six digits or more—is not only harder to guess, in some jurisdictions it's even better protected legally than your face or thumbprint. Yes, it can be annoying to have to enter a password or a long set of digits every time you unlock your phone, but the pain is worth it. A little inconvenience goes a long way to prevent someone guessing your PIN or pressuring you to unlock it with your face or finger.
Other steps to protect your privacy include setting your phone to lock automatically after a short time, and turning off message previews. Keeping your phone and apps updated helps too—updates often fix security holes that someone could otherwise use to get in. Also, both iPhones and modern Android phones encrypt your data by default once you set a passcode, so the contents stay mostly unreadable to anyone without your code.
Here's more on how to do make these changes on iOS, and on Android:
- Set a passcode on iPhone
- Set screen lock on an Android device
- Change Face ID and attention settings on iPhone
- About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone
How do I prevent photos from giving my location away?
Photos include more than what's in the image—and that information is called metadata. Metadata is an image’s hidden details, such as the time or the GPS location of where a photo was taken. You want to check any image's metadata before you post or send it, and consider concealing your location entirely by turning off geo-tagging in your camera settings.
Here’s how to disable geo-tagging photos taken by your camera app:
A location can also be revealed within a picture. Tattoos, jewellery, a landmark through a window, a reflection in a mirror—all features that can be used or pieced together to identify you, or locate you using open-source intelligence. Finally, when looking for apps to blur or censor part of an image, always make sure to check that they do not upload any data to the cloud or a website.
Which messaging apps are safe to use?
For private conversations your best bet is using end-to-end encrypted apps. Ideally, this means only you and the person you're messaging can read what's sent. Signal is the most trusted free option, and it's widely used across sex worker communities. Turning on the disappearing messages feature for sensitive chats, means less history to find if either phone is lost or looked through. It's worth being suspicious of new chat apps that claim to be private and secure. Many have not had the same level of scrutiny or are as “battle-hardened” as Signal.Install apps from the official App Store or Google Play, not from a link someone gave you or from a website. And be sure to keep the apps on your phone updated. Turn on automatic updates so the latest security fixes are applied.
The Tryst.link blog by and for sex workers has more to read about these topics:
- Ask Ada: Why Do Cops Hate Encryption?
- Sluts for Security: Why You Need to Update Your Operating System
What should I do if my phone is lost, stolen, or someone else gets it?
If you find yourself separated from your phone, “Find My iPhone,” or “Find My Device” on Android, are the first steps to locate, lock, or remotely erase your phone, as soon as you can get to another device These features can be set up right now, while your device is in your control, to wipe your phone irretrievably after several wrong passcode attempts.
“Find My” location data is end-to-end encrypted on both iPhone and Android, making it theoretically inaccessible by law enforcement. However, before you turn on Find My iPhone/Device, it’s worth knowing that this feature can be misused. Anyone with your Apple or Google password, anyone on a shared family account, can use it to see where your phone—and you with it—are going.
If your phone goes missing, it's definitely worth contacting your mobile provider to suspend the SIM. That stops anyone using your number to receive calls, texts, or the login codes that guard your accounts. They can then issue you a new SIM direct to you, but keep the number.
How do I keep my online accounts safe from scammers and hackers?
As said, a long, unique password for each account certainly helps. If you never use the same password twice, a breach on one site is unlikely to impact your other passwords. This is exactly what a password manager is for! It generates strong passwords and stores them behind one master password and two-factor authentication, so you only have to recall a single password.
It makes sense to add two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever it's offered. An authenticator app is safer than codes sent by text.Safer still are passkeys (which let you sign in with a PIN or password manager, so there's no password to steal) and physical security keys (a small device that has to be plugged in or tapped to log in). Both are worth turning on for the accounts that matter most.
Unique email addresses for each service add an extra layer of anonymity between your accounts. When the same email sits behind your work profiles and personal logins, a single data breach can let someone link those identities back to one person.
Account security is a regular topic on the Tryst.link blog because it's so important, and the impacts of an account being compromised so devastating for sex workers. Here's some further reading created just for sex workers to help prevent that from happening:
- Ask Ada: What’s a Passkey? Do I Need one as a Sex Worker?
- Sluts for Security: Password Managers & Why They Matter
- Ask Ada: What’s a Physical Security Token? Do I Need One?
- Sluts for Security: Protect your Email from Scammers & Phishers!
Better phone security, one small step at a time
All this information can be a lot to take in, but the good news is that you don't have to do it all today. Remember that perfect security isn't the goal and isn't possible anyway. The goal is to make life difficult for anyone wanting to access your information, link your work life to your personal one, or use your device against you.
Pick one thing from this post and start there. Maybe that's setting a stronger passcode, turning off photo location, using a password manager or finally moving your chats to Signal. Each step closes a gap, and the next one gets easier once the first is done. Your safety and your privacy are worth the effort.
Got a tech question for Ada? She wants to hear from you!
Ada answers all your questions about tech, the online world, and staying safe in it. No question is too silly, no hypothetical is too far-fetched! Learn to leverage devices, systems, and platforms to your benefit.
