Life online is constantly changing and although this is a great thing and there are many benefits and plenty of opportunities to come from the internet, we cannot forget about the darker side of the world wide web that is increasing the levels of crime and harassment, just over the keyboard instead of face to face.
Are you aware of what doxxing is? Do you know the consequences of it? What it can do to a person? We’re here to teach you.
Doxxing is an abbreviation of ‘dropping dox’, this occurs when someone digs up information or documents about a person and uses them with the intent to cyberbully, exploit or harass someone. Scary right? It gets worse. It’s NOT illegal.
Doxxing used to be a term only used amongst high profile hackers who did this kind of thing as a job, but unfortunately now, personal information of any online users on this planet is very accessible to just about anyone, so you don’t have to be a hacker to carry out the crime of doxxing.
We are very much becoming a technologically advanced world, and we actually do not have as much control over our personal data as we might think. Anyone with enough motive can get what they are looking for online.
Some of the ways of being able to stalk online and receive info you probably don’t even realise you’re giving away are:
– Stalking social media – have you posted a cute photo
of your coffee date with friends? Maybe turn the location
off! By leaving the map of where you are on, you are
enabling anyone that wants to, to follow your every move.
-Having the same username for everything – using the same name on everything can make for a very aesthetic social media profile, but you are allowing people online to build up tons of info about you because you are so easily found online!
– Connecting to unstable WiFi addresses – want to use the free WiFi in the shopping centre while you’re waiting for the bus? Please don’t! This WiFi is more than likely not secure, and hackers can worm their way in to get everything on your phone, even financial details.
Here’s a list of the A list celebs that have been doxxed (the ones we are aware of anyway!)
– Kim Kardashian
– Beyonce and her husband JayZ
– Donald Trump
– Lady Gaga
– Britney Spears
– Arnold Schwarzenegger
– Tiger Woods
The moral of this blog post is to watch what you do online, think again before posting, is this something someone out there could use against you? Do you really want the world to know this about you? Here at LawEd, we strive to protect YOU, and doxxing online is something everyone should be aware of, so we can avoid online harassment and stalking.
