Where Doxxing Came From and Why It Keeps Popping Up

It’s called doxxing (sometimes spelled doxing): the malicious posting of private information about you, your family, your photos or other details online -- without your consent -- for the whole world to see. Hackers have used such cyberbullying to hammer people from all walks of life, to shame or scare them or show devotion to some cause. Thousands of cases were reported during 2019’s pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and the tactic surged during 2020’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the U.S., prompting authorities to try new ways to stop it.

The word comes from “docs,” the abbreviation of “documents.” In the hacker culture of the early 1990s, “dropping dox” on someone -- putting their private data online in a publicly accessible file -- was often a means of revenge. Eventually the noun became a verb too. Although personal information is widely available on social media platforms nowadays, “doxxers” go further than usual searches, sometimes hacking into private files to get unlisted phone numbers, home or email addresses, Social Security numbers or details like where a target’s children go to school. The consequences can include emotional distress, harassment, intimidation, losing a job or worse.