Technology facilitated abuse and the security paradox

Computer security is built around protecting systems from unauthorised users. But in intimate partner violence, it is often the admin who is the threat. By failing to differentiate between ‘care’ and ‘control’, the tech industry has effectively built an infrastructure of coercion. This creates a security paradox: the very features designed to provide security (for the home, device, or user) are weaponised as vectors for insecurity for the survivors of intimate partner violence. Mainstream technologies enable abusers, while survivors are expected to manage their own safety with limited tools. To resolve this, we must move beyond performative safety features that place the onus on survivors to manage their own protection. I call for a paradigm shift, towards safety by design, whereby developers anticipate abusive users and integrate privacy protections by default.