Doxxing is when someone publishes your private personal information online — your home address, phone number, workplace, or family members' details — with the intent to enable harassment. It happens to journalists, activists, gamers, streamers, business owners, and ordinary people caught in online conflicts. Here's how to reduce your exposure.
What Information Doxxers Use
Doxxers piece together information from multiple sources to build a profile. Common sources:
- Data broker sites — Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, and hundreds of others sell your address and phone number publicly
- Social media — your tagged locations, photos with visible backgrounds, employer in your bio, friends list
- Old forum posts and comments — usernames that can be traced across platforms, personal details mentioned in old posts
- Domain registration records — if you own a domain, WHOIS records used to display your name and address (now protected by privacy services, but old records may still be findable)
- Court records and public filings — property records, voter registration, business licenses
Remove Yourself from Data Brokers First
Data brokers are the easiest source for doxxers. Your home address is often one search and $2 away. Removing yourself from Spokeo, Whitepages, BeenVerified, Radaris, Intelius, and MyLife eliminates this low-effort attack vector. This should be your first step.
Lock Down Your Social Media
Make your profiles private. Remove your location from your bio. Avoid tagging your home, workplace, gym, or regular locations. Review your old posts for anything that reveals your address or daily routine. Audit your friends list — remove anyone you don't know personally.
Separate Your Online Identities
If you have any public online presence — streaming, posting opinions, running a business — use a separate persona and email address that can't be traced to your real identity. Don't use the same username across platforms you want to keep separate from your real identity.
Protect Domain Registrations
If you own any websites, ensure domain privacy (WHOIS privacy) is enabled on all registrations. Check your existing domains to make sure your personal information isn't in public WHOIS records.
Opt Out of Voter Registration Lookups
Many states make voter registration records public or semi-public. Some states allow you to opt out of having your records available for commercial use. Check your state's rules at your secretary of state's website.
If You're Being Doxxed
Document everything (screenshots with timestamps). Report to the platform where your information was posted — most platforms have policies against doxxing. Contact your local police to file a report (establishes a record even if no immediate action is taken). Consider contacting the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (cybercivilrights.org) if doxxing is connected to harassment. Contact your mortgage servicer or landlord if your home address is being used to target you physically.