Doxxing

The act of disclosing someone’s personal, non-public information — such as a real name, home address, phone number or any other data that could be used to identify the individual — in an online forum or other public place without the person’s consent.

See also: Online Harassment, Personally Identifiable Information

Commentary:

  • Doxxing may lead to real world threats against the person whose information has been exposed, and for this reason it is often considered a form of online harassment.
  • Some services may also consider aggregating and disclosing publicly available information about a person in a menacing manner sufficient to constitute doxxing.