What is doxxing ? The praxis , also spell " doxing , " is when netizens use the cyberspace to reservoir and collect someone ’s personal and individual entropy and then publically let go that information online [ root : S - W ] .
Derived from the word " documents , " the full term is an abbreviated version of " shed dox , " a method acting of retaliation that dates back to the hack culture of the former 1990s [ beginning : Goldman , Honan ] .
How Doxxing Works
Theinternetmakes it easy to find publicly available data , such as landline sound numbers or mailing address , once you acknowledge a person ’s name , and blank Thomas Nelson Page - style directory sites have long supplant erstwhile - schooltime phone volume .
But doxxing takes things much further than an ingenuous hunt for contact selective information .
Doxxers often set up out to splice an anon. online visibility on social media sites to the true identity of the person behind it . They then publicly reveal that someone ’s veridical name , along with personal detail graze from home addresses and unlistedcell phonenumbers to Social Security numbers , the name of household members or bank score detail .
Like identity theft , doxxing unremarkably requires a bit of unscrupulous investigation on the part of the person digging up the information , such as stalk the quarry ’s social media profiles attend for pets ' names , maiden names or other clue that they may apply to guess passwords or answer security questions .
Unlike identity element theft , however , the goal of doxxing is typically retribution , harassment or mortification rather than access to fiscal account . Of course , once doxxers reveal a victim ’s personal details publicly , there ’s no tell what other internet user may do with them .
Doxxing Victims
Both private and public public figure have been " doxxed " and , surprisingly , the exercise is often totally legal , especially if the data is in the public knowledge domain . However , establish community like Reddit wide frown upon the practice [ source : Honan , Pelisek , S - W ] .
In 2013 , doxxing ( both the word and the practice ) gained mainstream exposure when celebrity include Beyoncé , Ashton Kutcher and Hillary Clinton had closely hold information such as their home speech and cell sound numbers revealed online [ source : Pelisek ] .
More recently , some have used the watchword " doxxing " — sometimes polemically — to describe the practice of investigative journalists who habituate techniques associated with doxxing to identify and explore the targets of their reporting [ sources : Goldman , S - W ] .
How to Protect Yourself From Doxxing
Doxxing can head to death menace and people show up to your physical address — activity that may require that you demand police enforcement . To protect yourself from doxxing , you should :
