doxing

to publish personal information about individuals on the internet

TRANSLATION

Doxing (doxxing) = von engl.: dox, Abkürzung für documents, ist das internetbasierte Zusammentragen und anschließende Veröffentlichen personenbezogener Daten, zumeist mit bösartigen Absichten gegenüber den Betroffenen

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

"This isn't the first time the Los Angeles Police Department has been DOXXED. In 2011, a group affiliated with the online hackers Anonymous claimed responsibility for posting personal information of more than 40 officers, including their home addresses, campaign contributions, property records, and names of family members."

The Daily Beast

Did you
know?

doxed or doxxed; doxing or doxxing
verb (colloquial)

to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

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ORIGIN

"Doxing" comes from a spelling alteration of the abbreviation "docs" (for "documents") and refers to "compiling and releasing a dossier of personal information on someone". Essentially, doxing is revealing and publicizing records of an
individual, which were previously private or difficult to obtain.

Consequently, doxing often comes with a negative connotation, because it can be a vehicle for revenge via the violation of privacy.

The methods employed to acquire information include searching publicly available databases and social media websites (like Facebook), hacking, and social engineering. It is closely related to Internet vigilantism and hacktivism.

Doxing may be carried out for various reasons, including to aid law enforcement, business analysis, risk analytics, extortion, coercion, inflicting harm, harassment, online shaming, and vigilante justice.

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PRACTICE OWAD TODAY
Say something like:

"Does the possibility of being DOXED make you cautious about using social media like Facebook?"

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