What is doxing?
The term doxing is made up of the words "document” and “tracing". Doxing is the collection and publication of personal data on the internet, such as email address, telephone number, place of residence, place of work, date of birth, parents' address, but also information on a person’s sexuality or sexual identity.
Perpetrators deliberately search publicly accessible databases, address and telephone directories and legal notices on blogs and social media; having collected any data, they then threaten to publish it. In most cases, the publication of data goes hand in hand with a call to tell the person concerned that he or she will is being targeted and, for example, threatened and harassed. You usually only find out that your own data has been doxed once it has already been published, and you receive abuse and threats via email or messenger on a large scale.
The aim of doxing is to intimidate the person concerned, and give them the feeling that you know everything about them. Tangible threats are also often made. This can go as far as those affected being threatened with physical attacks, rape or murder.
If the data has actually been published, this threat can quickly become very real. The threat is also exacerbated by the vast number of people who now have access to the private information.
Who is affected?
Doxing often affects people who express their political views and whom perpetrators want to muzzle. By way of an example, anyone who expresses themselves on feminist or anti-racist issues on blogs, video blogs or in social media, or takes a political stance, can be subjected to intimidation by doxing, and prevented from continuing to express themselves politically.
Doxing and, above all, the publication of collected information, can also be carried out by perpetrators in one’s immediate environment. The motive might be taking revenge after a break-up or rejection. Data might also be collected for purely criminal purposes to order goods or services in the name of another person, and to access accounts. The perpetrators use publicly available data to steal the identity of another person.
Possible consequences
Publishing private data can have serious consequences for those affected, e.g. if they are in the public eye as journalists, bloggers or politicians.
If death threats are made or someone is threatened with attacks, those affected may have to cancel appearances at events, change jobs or places of residence and get a new telephone number for security reasons.
Doxing can lead to a great sense of insecurity, and general mistrust of other people. In some cases, fear and the constant feeling of being under threat cause people to retreat from public life, or even their own social environment. This is often exactly what the perpetrators want to achieve. They want to put people under pressure and silence them.