Doxing: a type of online harassment that you should know to avoid it

Doxing is defined as a set of tactics aimed at gathering information about a target, be it an individual or an entity. However, in practice, this activity is not limited only to the accumulation of data. The private information obtained is used as a means of online harassment, threatening and extorting the victim with the possibility of making the discovered information public.

Generally, doxing is based on the digital footprint that people leave when browsing the web, making comments and registering and interacting with various platforms. From this seemingly insignificant data, more sensitive information can be traced, such as home address, names of close friends, personal interests, political leanings, and even confessions and compromising audiovisual material.

#A problem affecting women

According to several studies, doxing, understood as a form of threat through the disclosure of personal information, mainly impacts women. They have been subjected to online harassment, facing serious consequences due to threats of disclosure that place them in a situation of vulnerability.

One of the explanations for this phenomenon lies in the stigma attached to women. The disclosure of private information has a different impact when the victim is female, as there is a persistent tendency to judge people in this group. This inequality increases the effectiveness of such threats, since, by giving in to demands, victims may become increasingly exposed, thus generating a cycle of disclosure of confidential information.

#Nefarious consequences

Nowadays, an unfortunate image shared on Facebook can result in the loss of a job. Doxing is a form of extortion without limits. If a photograph, a video or a story posted on Twitter achieves a near-viral spread, a person can face numerous taunts and threats overnight from unknown individuals who nonetheless have the capacity to cause significant psychological harm.

Doxing is often used to undermine the influence of competitors in the political or employment arena. Information about certain people's past can be publicly disclosed from anonymous Twitter accounts, which causes more people to engage in its dissemination, generating a snowball effect.

Moreover, in these cases, truth can be intertwined with falsehood. Combining lies with truthful data, videos or images gives credibility to a set in which most of the elements are fictitious, all with the aim of remotely harming someone. In any case, regardless of the veracity of the information disseminated, the footprint left by this type of content on the Internet is permanent, and can be accessible years after the events have occurred.

#How to avoid it?

Doxing can cause a great emotional impact. To prevent it, it is critical to minimize the amount of information found about you on the Internet.

An effective way to start is to hide your IP address by using a VPN or proxy, which allows you to connect to a secure server before accessing the public network. This way, any attempt to trace your IP address will only reveal the address of the VPN or proxy server, keeping your personal information safe.

Numerous sites and applications encourage logging in through platforms such as X, Google or LinkedIn. However, by doing so, these sites can access data about you. The more services you connect to your accounts, the more likely it is that someone will be able to collect your personal information.

Using only your Google or Facebook account to access multiple sites can increase your vulnerability to potential data breaches. If your account password is compromised, a hacker could access all linked sites, making it easier to obtain your personal information and complicating the process of securing your accounts.

Social media profiles encompass a wealth of information about each user, including location, work history, date of birth, friends, family, photos, interests, and more. Publicly sharing such extensive information can increase the risk of doxxing.

Even if one does not have adversaries, it is advisable to set social media accounts to private. Learn how to make your profile private on each social platform and remove it from search engine results. Additionally, it is important to adjust privacy settings across all social media accounts to ensure greater control over each profile.