S/O: Doxxing - could you get 'doxxed'?

[soccerdad72]

Somewhat of a spin-off of the Phillies Ball thread, where it was mentioned that it's surprising that the woman involved in an incident hasn't been identified yet. Similar to the CEO in the Coldplay concert incident, who was very quickly identified by folks on the Internet.

So I was curious - if I somehow was caught on a 'viral' video, what are the chances that I would be able to be 'doxxed'? Generally speaking, I'd probably put my likelihood at maybe a 3 out of 10 (maybe lower). I don't have much of a presence online, aside from some Facebook photos and I'm definitely not in the public, such as in my professional life, so I think it would be somewhat unlikely that I would get identified by random people on the Internet. But I suppose some of these folks are pretty good at it, scary as that might be, so I couldn't say with certainty that it's 0% likely that it would happen.

ETA: Sorry, no 'Other' option on this one. Not enough space for it.

 

[fla4fun]

View attachment 1002475

Somewhat of a spin-off of the Phillies Ball thread, where it was mentioned that it's surprising that the woman involved in an incident hasn't been identified yet. Similar to the CEO in the Coldplay concert incident, who was very quickly identified by folks on the Internet.

So I was curious - if I somehow was caught on a 'viral' video, what are the chances that I would be able to be 'doxxed'? Generally speaking, I'd probably put my likelihood at maybe a 3 out of 10 (maybe lower). I don't have much of a presence online, aside from some Facebook photos and I'm definitely not in the public, such as in my professional life, so I think it would be somewhat unlikely that I would get identified by random people on the Internet. But I suppose some of these folks are pretty good at it, scary as that might be, so I couldn't say with certainty that it's 0% likely that it would happen.

ETA: Sorry, no 'Other' option on this one. Not enough space for it.

I Google myself a few times a year to see what information is out there, and I am good at finding info on people online. Although I have a somewhat common name, I keep an extremely low profile online and so far there isn’t anything out there I can find. I would say that if someone already had some information on me before they started looking, they would still have a problem finding me online. Like you, I can’t say the risk is zero because nothing is zero, but I would say a one out of ten if they already had some information (for example, if they already knew for sure what county or city I lived in before they started looking).

 

[mort1331]

Pretty hard to find myself on the web. No social media, except for this. And my name happens to be shared with a big name, so they get the 1st 10 pages on google....lol...did not even know until I googled myself.

 

[Genie+]

I am fortunate to have a common first and last name, so there are several like named people in my state around my age, and at some points we even lived in the same towns. I screw with the data like when signing up for membership cards and stuff like that. Sometimes I’ll use one of their middle initials, or change my birth year, or birthdate. I’ve intentionally misspelt my last name to see what other mail and email they are responsible for passing my info onto. I’ve opted out yet still somehow my misspelt name starts getting junk.

This doesn’t help avoid big data. They know exactly everything about me, who I associate with, what I do, where I go, what I spend, etc. But those online data brokers and ID check sites? Their information is all over the place. Lots of crossed wires and missing info. I refuse to make it easy for them.

 

[kdonnel]

I am easily identified.

In fact during Covid someone from this board tracked down my wife's phone number and left a hate filled voicemail thinking it was my number because I disagreed with them on the internet.

There are some unhinged people on here that love Disney.

 

[Christine]

I had a pretty good Disboard sleuth try to find me and she couldn't! But I don't think my identity is a fortress by any means. I give out a good bit of info on myself, it's just that I don't have a huge social media precense.

 

[georgina]

I am the only person in the country with my exact name. There is one person with a slight variation in spelling of the last name. If I google it, my address comes up. My Facebook account is private, but I do participate in a few specific interest groups on Facebook. So I guess it would be easy for someone really motivated.

All of my kids have much more common first names so there are multiples if I google them, and they are not on the first page of results.

 

[TippyThomas]

My electronic footprint is pretty small. People might be able to figure out the area I live, but I highly doubt they'd get much further than that .

 

[Minnie1222]

I have a very common name. There are hundreds of "me" on the net, some with mug shots.

Even my Dis username is common. There is at least one young TikToker with the same screen name.

 

[wvjules]

I think those that have known me from the beginning (and other places) may be able to find me. And I think I can 'find' some others too.

 

[china mom]

I guess it depends on what you mean my doxxing. If you mean could someone figure out who I am by recognizing me in a viral video or picture - sure, that could happen to anybody who has ever interreacted with people outside of their house. Video goes viral, co-worker says "hey, that's China, know her".

Doxxing as in my image goes viral and people compare it to other available images of me on the internet and figure out who I am, very unlikely in my case. There are not many current photos of me out there in the interwebs.

Doxxing as in someone from an online group I am in narrow down my location by my post history, maybe. Not as likely to figure out my name. though.

If you are concerned about how much information is out there about you, don't search your name on sites like FastPeopleSearch, spokeo, peoplefinders or Zabasearch (and several more)

 

[Pink Partridge]

Video goes viral, co-worker says "hey, that's China, know her".

This right here. I have worked with a lot of people throughout the years. Someone could easily post my name if I was misbehaving on a viral video. Not to mention high school classmates, or fellow college alumni.

 

[georgina]

I guess I was interpreting it as someone who was angry with me publishing personal information like address and/or phone so people could harass or threaten, like the public officials getting pizzas delivered to their houses in an 'I know where you live' message. I don't think I will ever be a viral video that a stranger could find me from.

 

[Pink Partridge]

If you are concerned about how much information is out there about you, don't search your name on sites like FastPeopleSearch, spokeo, peoplefinders or Zabasearch (and several more)

You can actually see how much people owe on their mortgage on Fastpeople Search. Just click on name, scroll down a bit and take the shown Estimated Value and subtract the shown Estimated Equity. Both will be the same if mortgage is paid off. That is crazy it is free and precise information.

You can even pay a fee on realtyhop.com and see if people have home equity loans/second mortgages and the exact amount.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm always surprised how many people have their FB accounts unlocked. It's crazy! People post all sorts of stupid awful comments on group posts/new stories on FB and you click on their FB and it takes you to a wide open account!
I do have my FB account locked down. I try to be careful online.

 

[ClaraOswald]

If I was in a viral video, like others said, plenty of people would recognize me - family, friends, people from high school, college, etc.

As for figuring out who I am online...probably not too difficult. I post pictures of my family here once in a while. And on a public Bluesky account. My Facebook and Instagram are friends-only but some FB photos are public.

The only forum/website I regularly post on in the Dis. I used to be on the Websleuths forum a lot but haven't been in a while. I really only have the time for one type of form at a time, I guess.

I know I'm not as cautious as I probably should be. But I like talking to people. I even 'friend' people I meet online. That can be "risky" but I like keeping in touch with people and seeing their families/lives. I'm even FB and Instagram friends with some Disers. Some I've been "friends" with for a decade now.

Even those I haven't friended on social media, could probably find me based on things I've posted here. It's honestly not hard to figure out who people are "in real life" based on things they post, if you know the right things to search.

Could someone find me for nefarious reasons? Sure. But hopefully they won't. And if someone finds me just to be curious/nosy, I'm okay with that. I've been known to do that myself.

Like I said, it's not hard to figure out who people are. But I don't think it's actually doxxing unless someone does something with the info they find. If someone finds me and just looks at my social media or even looks up my address to see what kind of house I live in? Okay. But if they look up that info and then show up at my house or contact my husband's work? THAT is doxxing and very, very wrong. And probably illegal, I'd hope.

 

[china mom]

You can actually see how much people owe on their mortgage on Fastpeople Search. Just click on name, scroll down a bit and take the shown Estimated Value and subtract the shown Estimated Equity. Both will be the same if mortgage is paid off. That is crazy it is free and precise information.

You can even pay a fee on realtyhop.com and see if people have home equity loans/second mortgages and the exact amount.

DH and I were police officers so super paranoid about bad guys finding out where we live. We were on zabasearch and ran DH and it led us to an aerial shot of our house, with a photo of our cruisers in front (and his cruiser was a one of a kind specialty car). DH was not happy.

 

[ClaraOswald]

If you know someone's name and the county they live it, many county assessor websites are free and online. I always look up people in news stories. And I've looked up where my doctors live. I'm a very nosy person. Voter registration lookup is also available in my state so I can see what party people are registered as. Though if it's a common name, there are often too many results.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Pretty low, I think. (hope?)

 

[leebee]

Yeah, probably. Only social media I do is this and facebook, and my only FB friends are folks I know in real life, but still... I'm not shy about saying what I do for a living, and with a little bit of searching it's not hard to discover where I work. OH... I also have a publication record, so that would probably give as much info as anything else. However... my last name is not the same as DH's so I think there's a little bit of protection there, somehow (like I always know if a caller says "Hello, Mrs. DH'sName that it's not a real call).

I am not sure I care if people can find me or not. I am pretty good at ignoring people, those who are sensible and those who are not!