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Disappear Online: 24 Hour Doxx Response

Page history last edited by reference 1 year, 4 months ago

NPL Home  /  Online Resources  /  Web Guides  /   Computers  /  Disappearing Online

 

Disappear Online: 24 Hour Doxx Response

 

(See also: Protest Safety, Digital Privacy)

 

What is Doxxing?

Doxxing is named after the term "dox" which is a shortened form of "documents." Doxxing is a process of intentionally finding and releasing personal information and documents about someone, sometimes revealing their identity, name, address, phone number, their place of work, bank account information, etc. This process is often explicitly used maliciously and often relies on mob mentality to motivate hundreds to millions of strangers online to harass someone. There have even been cases of victims of doxxing needing to leave their homes because they believed that they were in danger.  

 

How Can I Prevent Doxxing?

The more secure and private you make your digital presence, the more energy and resources it would take to doxx you, and the less likely it will happen. There is no way to be 100% safe, but there are habits that can greatly reduce your chances. For information on how to make your online activity secure and encrypted going forward, please see the webguide "Digital Privacy." To protect yourself from people finding information that already exists, refer to the following section on "Opting Out"  

 


OPTING OUT

 

  • ReferenceUSA

    • Email contentfeedback@infogroup.com. State clearly "I am contacting you at this email to request the removal of my profile with ReferenceUSA."
    • In the email you must include: a) your first and last name; b) your current address; c) addresses you have lived in the last five years
    • For more information, read: resource.referenceusa.com/privacy-policy/ and scroll down to "Your Choices and Opt-Out Rights"
    • Removal of your information may take up to 60 days.

       

  • Intelius.com

  • Acxiom.com

  • MyLife.com

    • Locate your profile on MyLife.com
    • Email privacy@mylife.com
    • State clearly: "I am contacting you at this email to request the removal of my profile at MyLife.com" and include the link to your profile.
    • This can take up to 10 days.

       

  • Spokeo.com

  • BeenVerified.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Someone Identified Me-- Now What?

 

First, set aside a chunk of time at home as soon as possible after learning about the beginning of an attempt to doxx you. Call out from work if you need to. The faster you can wipe your information, the fewer people can find you.

 

Keep a log of incidents of harassment and/or the spread of your information. Tracking this may be useful in keeping others safe.

 

Contact your loved ones, especially those who are related to you or with whom you have lived at some point during the last five years. Often information on you will also lead to information on your family and they may also be targeted during a doxxing attempt on you. Make sure they know the basics of what's happening so that they know to hang up if they receive strange calls or to delete strange emails. You should also inform them if you are changing your phone number, deleting social media accounts, or taking other action that will be noticeable and inhibits their ability to contact you.

 

Check www.haveibeenpwned to determine if your email has been hacked. Install a password manager (e.g. Last Pass) and create an account. Once you have an account secured with a password you have never used before but will definitely remember, begin changing your passwords to all of your accounts. You can generate random passwords once you have a password manager because as long as you can log into the password manager, you can access login information to all of your accounts without relying on your memory. Turn on Two-Factor Authentication on all accounts which have it as an option. For more information see: https://twofactorauth.org.

 

If you have a LinkedIn account, go to https://www.linkedin.com/public-profile/settings and on the right hand side you will see “Your profile’s public visibility." Switch this “Off."

 

Next, you'll need to go through the previous list of websites and "opt out" of each of their databases if you haven't already. These sites list personal information of everyone who does not opt out, making it easier for others to learn all about you from one or two pieces of key information.

 

It might also be helpful to change your phone number. To change a cellphone number, search the name of your provider (e.g. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.) and the phrase "change my number" for further instructions. Remember to tell your loved ones your new phone number. To change the number of a landline phone you will need to contact your phone company. If you can't remember the name of the company, it should be on your phone bill. Follow the automated instructions until you can speak to a representative. Tell them that you are experiencing harassment and are requesting a new landline phone number, and specify that this number should be an unlisted number. If there is a charge and you don't currently have the money on hand, request that they add it to your upcoming phone bill to give yourself time to raise the funds.

 

Contact your bank or credit union and notify them that you are a target so that they can more easily flag breaches of your account. You may also want to notify your landlord if you feel the physical building might be targeted as a means to intimidate you.

 

Delete any connected social media websites. That means anywhere that uses your real name, your real photos, or contains other identifying information. Websites like Facebook store your data for a long time even after you delete your page, so once things cool down you will be able to retrieve your profile if you so choose. If you don't think it will ever be safe to reclaim your profile you should download a copy of all the information Facebook collected about you.

 

Install a VPN (e.g. Private Internet Access) and follow the advice in our Digital Privacy Guide.

 

 

Go back to the Computers Web guide main page.

Go back to list of all Newark Public Library Web guides.

 

 

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