Our private lives are considered our own, and we only let those in who we trust. It's why home break-ins, even if nothing valuable is taken, are so upsetting; it feels like a violation. Malicious intent motivates some people to locate your details and distribute them online as a form of violation.
This alarming practice has become so widespread as a means of digital violence that it even has a name; doxxing. It is a particular problem on social networks, especially public ones. Some users target people whose views they disagree with or even for something as fundamental as their gender, background, or ethnicity.
So, how did doxxing become so commonplace, and is there anything you can do to prevent it?
What Does It Mean to Dox Someone?
Generally, we think of our home as a safe place. It's one of the few spaces in which we can be precisely how we want to be without fear of being judged. It's also incredibly intimate and personal. That's why we protect confidential information like our address. It's a similar situation with our work and social lives, too.
Innately, we value privacy and we approach social situations differently. For instance, the way you talk and behave around work colleagues is likely different from how you might interact with your friends. We silo our lives into areas based on trust.
Our home address, full name, workplace, and other personally identifiable details are only given out when we feel comfortable with it. However, online the situation is different. On the whole, we don't give out personal information publicly online, but we do present ourselves for others to see.
Whether that's our LinkedIn profile for professional reasons, Instagram for lifestyle sharing, or Twitter for expressing our opinions, we are often more public in our beliefs, thoughts, and interests than we are in the physical world. While this fosters connections with like-minded people, it also means that you are visible to everyone, not just those who you trust.
There is a segment of internet users who believe it is right to harass, shame, or cause harm to people with whom they disagree. It's not possible to do physical harm online, so, instead, they switch to something that can sometimes be more harmful in the long run; fear and shame.
What Is Doxxing?
Using various techniques, including Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), searching publicly available databases, analyzing social media posts and profiles, hacking, and social engineering, the attackers extract identifiable information.
Once they have this, they will publish it publicly online, hoping that their supporters or followers will harass you. This could be in an attempt to remove you from your position, get you fired from your job, cause embarrassment, and in some extreme cases, cause you physical harm.
Exposing information like this is known as doxxing. The term initially came from the abbreviation of documents, dox. Violating someone's privacy in this way became known as doxing, although it's now more common to use the double-x variant, doxxing.
It was initially a tactic employed in the early hacking scene, where most users were anonymous. In retribution for perceived slights or controversial views, hackers would dox other users to bring their true identity to law enforcement's attention.
While the methods used haven't changed much over time, the frequency and severity have. The hacking community understood the situations they were getting themselves into and the associated risks.
Not that this justifies the technique, but they could at least be prepared for the eventuality. The most significant difference now is that doxxing is often targeted at regular users, those without protection, and for a wide range of, often trivial, reasons.
Similarly, people in positions of responsibility or involved with vaccines, abortions, or other controversial areas, often find themselves at the receiving end of a doxxing attack. The same is true of women and non-white users who are frequently targeted by misogynists and racists.
This has the compounding effect of driving already marginalized communities away from social networks and public spaces and creating positive connections. The use of malicious social media bots allows doxxers to overwhelm their victim, as well. Each doxxing incident is an attempt to cause fear and harm for the individual involved.
However, cumulatively, these targeted attacks have a broader effect. Doxxing campaigns against institutions, or people with certain beliefs or characteristics, are an attempt to silence conversations. Instead of debate, those responsible for the dox want to prevent a particular world view.
Is Doxxing Illegal?
Unfortunately, doxxing is not illegal as a specific offense. This is partly because the tactic is relatively new and legislation is incredibly slow to respond to current events. Similarly, not all government officials and legislators see it as a specific problem.
In the main, this is because those in authority are generally not the victims of doxxing. It also has found a use as a political tool for similar purposes, like silencing the opposition. However, few government officials would be vocal in their support of such tactics.
There's another important reason that doxxing is not illegal, despite the harm that it causes. As an offense, it is incredibly difficult to specify in law without being too broad. There's a delicate balance between legislation wide-ranging enough to cover all doxxing events and not too far-reaching as to have unintended consequences.
That's not to say that legislation is impossible. Still, the combined effects of time, lack of political interest, and challenges in defining the problem result in no current legal remedy for doxxing. If you have been the victim of doxxing, you should still report the incident to the authorities.
Depending on the circumstances, other factors may be considered, like the attacker's relationship, how the information was spread, and further details. It's possible that, despite being unable to prosecute as a doxxing offense, there may be other legal options available.
How To Protect Yourself from Doxxing Attacks
While we'd like to imagine that most people are generally good, there are people out there who act maliciously. Before the internet, someone would need to know who you were to target you. However, these days we are easily discoverable online. As more people can see your profiles, interests, and beliefs, the more likely someone with bad intentions will come across your online presence.
As we mentioned earlier, most doxxing attacks' intended outcome is to cause fear and silence conversations. So, while it's perfectly reasonable to feel uncertain or even fearful of the potential, many believe that you shouldn't have to feel afraid of being who you are online. It's important to find a balance between expressing yourself and protecting your privacy.
Firstly, you'll want to consider whether the things you want to post about could be regarded as controversial. If so, assess how you feel about the risk of identifying yourself with those topics. You may decide it's important to stand up for your beliefs, but also value your safety and privacy. Consequently, it may be worth creating alternative accounts, profiles, or email addresses for talking about those issues.
Anonymity is undoubtedly a problem online as it allows people to be unpleasant without any repercussions. But anonymity is also one of the essential parts of the internet. In our real lives, there are expectations, societal pressures, and reputations to preserve. Pseudonymous accounts allow us to express thoughts, feelings, and views that we may not be comfortable associating with our real-world persona.
Once you've decided how to present yourself online, it's important to adjust your privacy settings on your accounts and social networks. You should also ensure that you have strong, unique passwords for each service and consider using a password manager to store them securely.
Similarly, before posting anything online, think about what you give away about yourself by doing so. For example, snapping a photo on your street gives away where you live. There are plenty of types of information you shouldn't post online.
Staying Safe Online
Unfortunately, by its nature, doxxing is not something you can always prevent. If someone is determined enough to violate your privacy, they may be able to glean enough information to do you harm. However, there are preventive steps you can take that'll make the task harder for them.
The good news is that these privacy-protecting actions are beneficial to you more generally and can help protect your information in the event of a data breach. One of the most significant changes you can make is to switch from a free email provider, like Gmail or Outlook, to a secure, encrypted option like ProtonMail or Tutanota.