The issue of privacy on the Internet is not a joke. Most users are concerned to a greater or lesser extent about keeping our identity and personal data safe. However, many times, without knowing it, we leave clues that other people can use against us to doxing
But what is doxing? And why should we care? He doxing (also written Doxing) is an English word that is used to describe an activity that could be included within the category of cyberbullying. Consists in posting private and personal information of other users online, obviously without their permission, with the intent to intimidate or embarrass them.
This word comes from the abbreviation dox, which in English is used to say “documents”. The truth is that doxing is a practice as old as the human being itself, a way of exposing private information of others to humiliate them, embarrass them or even blackmail them. What happens is that today, thanks to the Internet, this can be done more easily and also achieve a greater reach.
The first hackers began to use the networks to "launch dox", that is, to publish the private data of others as a form of revenge. Unfortunately, today, doxing has become a very common practice on the Internet. A reprehensible activity that can ruin the reputation, professional career and even the personal life of many people.
The terrible consequences of doxing
Doxing implies thoroughly investigate a person and extract private information which, in many cases, she herself has provided at some point somewhere on the Internet. This information can then be used to exercise a form of psychological violence whose consequences can be very serious.
Un example simple: Many people use a nickname, an alias or pseudonym, for your activities in forums or on social networks. In this way they feel safer and freer when expressing their opinions. But if someone is dedicated to doxing your private data and manages to reveal his name, his home address or even his phone number, that person is forced to disappear from the internet.
And that in the best case. Other times, it can be Extreme situations like the following:
- Cyber bullying and public humiliation.
- Cyberbullying.
- Loss of work or professional injury.
- Family problems, couple breakups.
- Identity Theft.
- Psychological damage (sometimes leading to depression and suicide).
- Physical attacks and harassment.
This is how doxing works
Many times we mistakenly think that we are safe from this type of practice by taking some simple precautions, such as not using a real name or posting data on the network that could lead to public identification. Unfortunately, this is not enough, since some users know how to use many methods and tricks to dox a person. These are some of his tracking techniques:
- WiFi connection. A good hacker knows how to easily intercept an Internet connection and obtain our data in real time, especially the websites we visit. In the worst case they can access our usernames and passwords.
- File metadata. Something as innocent as a Word document created from our computer can provide a lot of information about us. A doxing expert can find out who, when and where created and edited it. The same happens with a photograph that we have taken with the mobile, which can even reveal the model of the smartphone and (if the GPS was activated), the place where it was used.
- IP snooping. A good hacker is capable of introducing an invisible code called an IP logger into our equipment. This can come in the form of an innocent message and, once inside, reveal our IP address.
Is doxing someone legal or illegal?
The answer to this question depends on a simple fact: if the exposed information has already been published by the victim before, it is not considered illegal. Many times that is what happens, that is why it is so important to be very cautious and jealous of our privacy.
On the other hand, if the exposed information has been obtained using a method such as the ones we have reviewed in the previous section, doxing is illegal and whoever carries it out can be prosecuted by law.
Legal or illegal, there is no doubt that every form of doxing has a perverse intent that seeks to inflict some kind of damage on the person who receives it. You don't have to go far to check them out. It is the order of the day on the Internet. In fact, there are many journalists, communicators, influencers, etc. who engage in these practices to a greater or lesser extent, causing their victims to be the target of ridicule or the object of anger from others. Regrettable.
How to protect yourself from doxing?
As you can see, no one is completely safe from being doxed. However, there are a series of habits that we can adopt to minimize risks. It is already known that it is always better to be safe than sorry. Some of the things we can do are these, simple common sense:
- Regularly change passwords, using complex passwords that combine letters, numbers, and other characters.
- Do not publish any personal data on any Internet site.
- Use the privacy settings on the platforms or social networks that allow it.
- Avoid logging into sites like Facebook or Google from pop-ups.
- Do not open links whose origin is not confirmed (the typical case of spam mail or that contains malware).
- Make sure our calls and video calls are private and encrypted.
But What happens if we are late and we are already being doxed? In that case, you have to act forcefully to avoid greater evils. These are some of the actions we must take:
- Report and block doxer using the tools available on the platform in question.
- Take screenshots of your threats.
- Consider suspending our activity on social networks for a while.
- Alert friends and family that we are being doxed.
- Inform the bank in order to “shield” the security of our accounts and cards.
- Lastly, file a complaint with the police.