You’re not alone! - Crime prevention by the police

The Land police authorities are responsible for preventing crime. The Federation and the Länder have worked together in developing services to help you protect yourself.

There are many measures that can help you protect yourself against crime. Because it is the task of the police to prevent crime, polizeiberatung.de has been developed as a comprehensive platform where information is available.

In addition to statistics and background information, you can find tips there on how to protect yourself from various kinds of criminal offences. The police answer questions such as: “How can I make my house or apartment burglar-proof?” or “How can I recognise fraudsters on the telephone?”

If you prefer personal face-to-face counselling, the site also has contact partners as well as counselling centres you can turn to.

The German Forum for Crime Prevention (Deutsches Forum für Kriminalprävention) also provides information on how best to prevent crime.

Hate and violence on the Internet, Cybercrime

A large portion of our everyday lives meanwhile happen online. Unfortunately, crimes are committed there as well. That is why it is so important to protect yourself and your personal data as well as possible.

The same can happen online or offline: Anyone can be affected by a criminal offence. But you can do a few simple things to prevent attackers on the Internet from having too easy a time of it.

Data protection

• Make sure that you disclose as little data about yourself as possible, and choose various secure passwords for your online access. Many sites and platforms offer a two-factor authentication: That means that you not only enter a password, but also, for example, must confirm the registration on your smartphone.
• Think very carefully about whether you wish to appear online and on social networks under your real name.
• Malware, meaning programs that carry out undesired functions on smartphones and PCs, also constitute a danger on the Web. A healthy scepticism, especially with regard to mails from unknown or misspelled addresses, can help you protect yourself from attacks of that type. Account details or passwords are not usually requested via e-mail.
• It is also important to regularly download the most recent updates for your smartphone, tablet and PC. Programs that protect against viruses are helpful as well. You can find more information at sicher-im-netz.de, and special information regarding malware on smartphones can be found at mobilsicher.de.

Any data that you put online might turn out to be risky to you. You will be more protected if you make sure to put the settings of your private sphere on your social media profiles in such a way that unknown people cannot see anything relevant.

It is also possible to have unwanted search engine results and information on websites about you deleted. A simply written objection to the registration authority is enough to be protected from having your data be passed on. Find tips for prevention and help here if you are affected by hate and violence on the web.

Local politicians who are threatened by hatred and incitement can find further support and contact points at www.stark-im-amt.de. The portal provides those affected with direct access to information and services in order to help prevent attacks and to overcome the challenges associated with an attack.

Links

www.hassmelden.de
www.no-hate-speech.de
www.sicher-im-Netz.de
www.mobilsicher.de
www.klicksafe.de
www.juuuport.de
www.selbstauskunft.net/meldebehoerde-widerspruch