What is Self Doxxing?
There are several measures you must take to protect your data. One of those is self doxxing. Everyone, including you, needs to self-dox.
Over the last few decades, doxxing has established itself as a weapon of terror. From government analysts to the general population, everyone has taken advantage of it. A report reveals that up till 2020, more than 53 million Americans have been doxxed. The malicious act made them lose their jobs and loved ones. To solve this problem, experts have come up with a technique called self-doxxing.
What Is Self Doxxing?
As the term indicates, Self doxxing is an act of doxxing. The only difference is that instead of a hacker, you dox yourself. I know that's a bit confusing. Why would anyone doxx themselves? Isn't that dangerous?
Well, the answer is No. Self doxxing does not put you in danger. In fact, it does the exact opposite. When you dox yourself, you come across all the information that is available online. It can be anything, from your house address to your contact number.
Next, you can request the site to remove your personal information. Or if the information is present on your social media sites, you can hide it. This way you can effectively protect yourself from getting doxxed.
Why Should You Consider Self Doxxing?
Doxxing has resulted in a lot of unfortunate incidents. A teenager's life changed completely when nude pictures were posted online. The pictures spread like wildfire. Before she could take any action, 24000 men had seen them. Her phone was full of unsolicited messages. Though time passed, to this day the poor girl suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A twitch user took extreme measures after his house address got doxxed. According to 25 years old, several police raids were called to his home. All this traumatized him so much that he left his permanent residence and shifted elsewhere.
Another popular doxxing incident happened during Hong Kong protests in 2019. From police officers to social workers, everyone's personal information was leaked. This resulted in defamation, house raids, and jobs being lost.
The purpose of telling you all these stories is that doxxing can happen to anyone. Anytime. So, if you love your privacy, you need to self-dox immediately.
How To Do Self Doxxing?
If you think, doxxing is something only hackers can do, you're wrong. Most hackers do not use any special websites to doxx. In fact, most of those sites can easily be accessed by anyone. Including you. So protecting yourself with help of self doxxing, is easier than you think.
Let's take a look at all the tools you would be using when you self doxx.
Search Engines:
Search engines are very popular amongst doxxers. So your self doxxing journey must begin with search engines. They give you basic information about yourself. Plus help you find sites where most of your information is stored.
Most common search engines include:
- DuckDuckGo
- Bling
When Self doxxing, it is best to access google from the browser you don't use. For example, if you normally use Chrome, use Firefox instead.
Put your name/nickname into the search tab and see what comes up. You can also put your address and contact number in the tab, to see what pops up.
These targeted searches reveal a lot about a person. To make your self doxxing journey successful, you must use these Google search tips.
If you find any information on Google, you must request the removal of content. Just follow this link to do that.
You can also turn out Google Alerts to get informed about any new information that is being indexed.
Data Brokers And People Search Sites:
When you are target searching search engines, they often lead you to data brokers. Or people search sites. Such sites are all packed with sensitive data about countless internet users. Most often than not, these sites are free to use. Or let you access any sort of information after payment of a minimal fee.
These search sites usually collect all this data without people's consent. Most of it comes from public records of people. You may not see your current house address on such a website. But they will most definitely have your old address, phone numbers, and passwords. It may also have the names of your family members.
Scary, right? Well, that's the benefit of self doxxing. You find out what the internet knows about you and get it removed. Some of the most famous data broker sites that steal information are listed below.
What To Do If You Find Your Information On Any Website?
In case you find your information on any of the above mentioned sites, it is best to opt out. To do that, you have to follow a few simple steps and tips.
- When requesting to opt out of data, these sites will ask you for your personal information. Never give them new information. Use what they already have.
- It is best to create a burnout email address to access such sites. If that is not possible, use an email address that you use infrequently.
- Instead of giving your real contact number, set up a Google voice or other voice-over IP account.
Reverse Image Search:
People upload pictures on their social media accounts without any hesitancy. These personal images are what doxxers love the most.
To make sure your social media images are not available on any suspicious site, you can perform a reverse image search.
To do this, right click on your image and then click on the "Copy image" location. This will give you the URL of your picture. You can then paste this URL into any search engine and check where your pictures are available.
Click on this link if you want more guidance on how to use reverse image search for investigation.
Social Media:
Last on the list is Social Media. A place that stores personal information and images of billions of users. People usually end up sharing a lot more on social media than is required. This information is used by doxxers to destroy their peace.
Just like doxxers, you need to thoroughly go through every social media account. This includes your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other site you use.
Make sure there are no posts that reveal information about your location. Or disclose the identity of your loved ones. In case you like posting pictures, update your privacy. It is best to keep your pictures available for those you know and trust.
You also need to search any previous accounts that you once used. Report them and ask the social media authorities to delete them.
Final Words
Here you go, we have listed all possible ways you can self doxx. It is best to carry out self doxxing every few months. Most of these sites are always collecting information. So don't be surprised if you find information about yourself on these sites again.
Remember that there is no way to completely erase your information from the internet. You can make it hard for trouble makers to access it though.
