Doxxing

[tobee]

I'm not very savvy about this so can I ask what happens/potentially happens?

If you are doxxed that is. See I don't even know how to spell it.

Hope this isn't a crass question.

It seems to be a cover all term for revealing the identity of someone who wants to remain anonymous.

So, for instance, Venice Allan was banned from Twitter, but re-registered under a different name, and Julie Bindle outed her on Twitter. Earning her another ban. I think that could constitute being doxxed.

Posey Parker has had her children's school publicised online. And photographs of her family, which were on a private Facebook page. That's another example.

A poster on here inadvertently posted something that contained her name, and a man on Twitter got hold of it and tweeted it to expose her.

There is also the possibility of online places being hacked in order to find out the identity of people.

The word dox, I believe comes from documents. Documents used to find out someone's identity, or details about their life that they would rather remain private.

It's usually used to intimidate. Talking about details that are already in the public domain doesn't usually mean doxed.

One of the reasons it's quite worrying is because a lot of women are speaking out about sexism/misogyny/transactivism and the way to stop them is to expose who they are online and encourage harassment.

The man I mentioned upthread has posted a photograph of the interior of a church. Pretending he's going to visit it. It's the church used by the partner (a priest) of an outspoken feminist. It's meant to intimidate and frighten.

I'm sure other people will think of more examples.

Right. Thanks.

Don't want to seem I'm all right jack when I know loads of other women have much to lose, but I was just checking whether I'm right in thinking that I'm lucky to be very low level risk. I feel like I can say whatever I like and can't really be intimidated by anyone but I might be being naive. I'm not on Twitter, am currently self employed and my kids are adult. However I don't want to fuck up wider family lives.

I saw a transactivist go through every friend on a person's Facebook and say you do know you're associating with a transphobic bigot, don't you?

But yes, I think if you're self-employed, it's nowhere near as bad. Or if everyone you know is equally gender critical.

I've been wanting to ask for ages and the latest mumsnet data breach, obviously, made me think it was worth starting a thread to have it highlighted for me and others.

It isn't a crass question. I've been doxxed twice so far, its very unpleasant and upsetting when it happens.
I decided to take the 'anti blackmail' approach and out myself, and state the reasons why I did it.

I think I've been lucky and got off lightly. I can only imagine how stressful it is for high profile women to live with this constantly.

I'm sorry that you've gone through that user.

It's so fucking outrageous that some people are cheering on the doxxers. It's twisted.

The subject of doxxing sits badly with me. I don't like the word because so few know what it means. The problem is men stalking and harassing women who disagree with them. The doxxer is guilty of encouraging others to stalk and harass a particular woman.

I'd be happier if we stopped using the euphemism dox. Let's say initiated a targeted campaign of harassment and intimidation directed at Posie

When someone googles t*rf intimidation or such like I want the search results to find threads about what some crazy stalky men are doing. Euphemisms help to hide it

Yes, exactly - one of the TAs for example considered it doxxing to link to pictures of a woman and her trans child, which the woman had freely posted herself, in a news article about her and her child.

I feel that this doesn't meet the requirements, especially considering people are using the same word for this (publicising an already public article and picture) and things like digging through what someone says for clues about their life and going through 192.com or other routes to try to find out where they live.

I’m the person who had a photo of the interior of my DH’s church published by a certain person immediately after a series of tweets in which they doxed another person, even posting a link to their address.

I found out yesterday that this man’s friend had also, on spotting that I had defended Posie & Julia, made comments about bursting into the Mass I attend. My DH runs 2 churches and I often alternate where we go, so I found this particularly chilling. They obviously can’t discern the difference between walking in through an open door to ask questions of a political lobbyist after a meeting, who was sat there doing nothing, and disrupting and frightening a church service with the elderly and young, just because the priest’s wife has Christian views.

There’s an entire website devoted repeatedly publishing my address, my email, DH’s mobile, his email, identifying my kids’ schools, my ex, photos of them etc. He keeps saying that it’s information in the public domain (not all of it is) so it’s not doxing, but in the context of multiple posts calling me a bitch, a scrubber and a c**t etc, the purpose is to intimidate. Especially as he publishes parish events off the newsletter and threatens to pitch up. He even posted a photo demonstrating he was 3 minutes walk from our house.

But because he’s not directly contacting me, it’s not harassment and the police supposedly don’t want to spend the money on getting the IP evidence.

I think though, TBF, it’s only if you have any kind of media profile or high social media profile does it get this extreme.

Most people getting a DM about you being a transphobe, would think the sender a bit of a nutter. That said it is very wise to keep your employer off your social media profile & think about anonymity.

Sorry, meant to say, what’s happening to me is Malicious Comms. And doxing clearly isn’t linking to a published article.

However collating everything together on a site inciting hatred, which attacks your partner and kids, (mine are no oil paintings apparently) publishing where you are going to be and repeatedly encouraging others to ring you up, does cross a line IMO.

"So, for instance, Venice Allan was banned from Twitter, but re-registered under a different name, and Julie Bindle outed her on Twitter. Earning her another ban. I think that could constitute being doxxed. "

She doesn't seem to be banned, if it's the account Julie named. Still active.

From what I can see various TRAs already named her as Venice some few months ago, Julie is merely repeating the doxing.

She doesn't seem to be banned, if it's the account Julie named. Still active.

Oh that's good news.

From what I can see various TRAs already named her as Venice some few months ago, Julie is merely repeating the doxing.

Oh ok, got it.

Fgs Caroline this i# truly horrible

Has anyone helped to stop,this
Must be so scary for you

Yes @Carowiththegoodhair ive seen some of your comments on other threads I believe and have been horrified (if not surprised that this sort of thing goes on) but it's worth you reiterating the details to let others know.

It's an upside world the way people are framing who the victims are in all this. And the Lynne Featherstone's et the many al backing up the perpetrators.

I think for most people (Caro's situation is extremely disturbing) it amounts to financial intimidation. "Agree with me or I'll jeopardise your employment/own business."
I'm not convinced most people's employers would bother to defend their right to free speech! So it's very effective.

And to add: this is why I'm very grateful for Posie Parker. She's shown huge self-awareness and states quite plainly that she is fortunate to not be able to be held to ransom. I like her emotion and her drive, all those things make her more vulnerable to attacks but she carries on despite some really nasty opposition.
I wish I could do even a fraction of what she does but like most people I'm not in a position to. So I support her 100%

It's essentially the modern dixkhead's version of 'I'm telling your Mum', I always find the best inoculation against deranged dobbers is to not hide your identity in the first place. Whatcha gonna do now?

(I accept full disclosure isn't for everyone. BUT you've nothing to hide or be ashamed of. I frequently spam SM with my real details. I hate hiding. It makes anything you say seem disingenuous and gives your adversaries grist to the old mill. Plus, it takes the wine from sails).

Wind, not wine!

The fallback of the information is in the public domain is used again and again and it’s so cowardly. Yes, most information is in the public domain but these people are putting it together to, as PP says, encourage others to harass them.

When ManFriday was targeted I was soft-doxxed, for want of a better expression. The odious vegetable on twitter posted details of where I live/what my house is like and a photo my ski coach had shared on a holiday in 2012. The threat being we know stuff about you and if you don’t get back in your box we’ll share it all. It’s not nearly as bad as what others have had but it did frighten me. I don’t have a job to target, which made life less difficult but knowing they’d shared my address between them made me nervous for a while. Until I realised they’re all basement dwelling keyboard warriors. They’re trying to get others to do their dirty work, and for the most part others just don’t care.

The additional really nasty bit of doxxing is that they contact your employers (if you’re employed) and demand that if you don’t retract your views —wrongthink— you should be sacked.

I’m a GC academic. That’s what happened to me.

My employers required that while the investigation took place - over about3 months - I was not permitted to speak about it with anyone except immediate family. The stress is still with me a year later - I got a letter markedly “Private and Confidential ‘ which wasn’t a bank statement, and my heart started racing and it took me the rest of the day to calm down.

I realise this is nothing like being interviewed by the police, but I can’t afford to lose my job. It would be my life’s work really.

My case was part of the submission WPUK made about censorship. The investigation found I had nothing to answer, but the anonymous complaint (which they at least required there would be a name put to it - someone I do not know & have never met or spoken to) was enough to make my employers pull out the stops on one of their senior women.

And I’ve had to remain anonymous about it throughout the whole ghastly episode. And even now, I only tell people if I have to . I’ll name change after this post.

The whole thing was a huge setback emotionally (I’m single with little emotional support domestically) and professionally. I’ve had to decline or pull out of research commitments for the last year - or disclose, under promises of professional in confidence, what happened to me in order to explain why I’m 6 months behind on deadlines.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a sustained target of this abuse. Because abuse it is.

It is the equivalent of “I’ll tell your mum” I like that but not every employer will say “stop telling tales.”