# When is doxxing acceptable



## autisticdragonkin (May 20, 2016)

A common question raised on the internet is when doxxing is acceptable. Some say that it is always unacceptable because it is putting the person at risk, others say that it is acceptable because it is using publicly available information. I think that it is wrong to dox someone through malicious means such as an ip logger or hacking their account as well as doxxing someone in order to get them prosecuted by hate speech laws or fired by their politically different bosses but as long as it isn't motivated in order to try to suppress someone's free speech and isn't done using information not publicly available then it is acceptable


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## Golly (May 20, 2016)

When is doxxing used for productive reasons though? Unless you really have a productive greater good in mind (helping the person or exposing a really terrible person), I don't see any reason to dox someone else. If someone doxxes themselves, however...


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## Vitriol (May 20, 2016)

When you spell it with one x.


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## Mimic (May 20, 2016)

I'd like to say it'd only be truly acceptable when outing a truly evil person who is a menace to society. This world is far from perfect though, and this is the internet, so it's acceptable when people get "justice".  Justice being relative in itself, it's hard to dictate just what doxing is globally acceptable and what isn't.

To me personally, it's when sick assholes like Nick Bate get outed and prosecuted.


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## Joan Nyan (May 20, 2016)

When it leads to something funny.


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## QI 541 (May 20, 2016)

Are you seriously asking Kiwifarms of all places about the ethics of doxing?


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## Watcher (May 20, 2016)

I know this is a stupid troll thread but I'm going to answer it srsly just for shits and giggles

doxxing is never acceptable. It's a bully tactic first and foremost. It is mob justice. If someone has done something wrong it's up to the legal system to determine whether or not they should be punished, not the general public. Doxxing very rarely leads to actual retribution, it's entirely designed to scare someone and get back at someone. And people should realize that regardless of what happens on the internet, nothing we do here should affect our real lives unless we're doing something illegal. And in that case, the police should be involved not actual citizens. I would much rather a person be able to harass someone online and get away with it, than be afraid to say something mean to someone. 

I fundamentally believe doxxing is never justifiable and I look down upon the act and anyone who does it. It's a petty act and I view it on the same level as I do something like DDoSing a website.


That Darn Mimic said:


> I'd like to say it'd only be truly acceptable when outing a truly evil person who is a menace to society. This world is far from perfect though, and this is the internet, so it's acceptable when people get "justice".  Justice being relative in itself, it's hard to dictate just what doxing is globally acceptable and what isn't.
> 
> To me personally, it's when sick assholes like Nick Bate get outed and prosecuted.


I don't agree with this.

A mob is not a judge. We have laws that can even prevent our names being put out into the public. The court system should determine if someone is guilty, not individuals.


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## Mimic (May 21, 2016)

Watcher said:


> A mob is not a judge. We have laws that can even prevent our names being put out into the public. The court system should determine if someone is guilty, not individuals.


This is a very good point honestly.  I hadn't considered what it would've meant had doxing been considered a legitimate tactic.


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## Marvin (May 21, 2016)

Watcher said:


> We have laws that can even prevent our names being put out into the public.


Because of the first amendment, that's very much the exception (e.g. minors involved in certain court cases) and not the rule.


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## Watcher (May 21, 2016)

Marvin said:


> Because of the first amendment, that's very much the exception (e.g. minors involved in certain court cases) and not the rule.


Regardless my point is that the law has checks and balances, and it doesn't always deem it necessary to reveal a person's identity to the public. And neither should a mob.


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## BILLY MAYS (May 21, 2016)

ALWAYS DOXING, ALL THE TIME!


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## Rou (May 21, 2016)

I agree with @Watcher . On top of what he said, doxing just puts us on the same level as the cows we mock.


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## Clown Doll (May 21, 2016)

To me, on a personal basis it depends on :
1. Is the person who would be the target of the action someone who's involved in socio-political campaigning and therefore choosing to be in the public eye.
2. Do they themselves approve of such underhanded tactics used against people who they consider "acceptable targets".
3. Does it open parties that aren't responsible for the person's behavior(for example underage kids, their parents, etc.) for unnecessary harassment and is it likely that those persons would get harassed.
4. (Regarding this site) : Does it add anything worthwhile to the discussion / lead to good content?

Personally, I view most of public doxing largely pointless since if there's anything worthwhile that the dox can do, people who mine for the content about Lolcows can utilize them privately, while displaying their phone numbers and street addresses doesn't imho really add to the "content" a lot of the time. It's mostly there as a resource for people who are autistic enough to  them. The idea of getting in people's face with the whole "We got your dox, whatcha gonna do!"-thing as far as this website is concerned isn't a simple issue - it can definitely be a tool when dealing with quasi-lolcow-y entities such as the people who attack this site with similar methods, but when it comes to actual, funny Lolcows, it's rarely adding anything relevant and gives said Lolcow an almost legitimate reason to get upset about us documenting them when people are talking about a harmless web cartoonist or spergy internet reviewer as if they were the spawn of Satan while displaying their phone number in the op.

Though, my point of view is kinda skewed because I personally don't like to follow Lolcows that are unpleasant, so for example it's not taking the GamerGate tranny shenanigans and how doxing plays into those kind of cows into account so take from that what you will.


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## Marvin (May 21, 2016)

Watcher said:


> Regardless my point is that the law has checks and balances, and it doesn't always deem it necessary to reveal a person's identity to the public. And neither should a mob.


It's a somewhat rare occurrence. The legal system is built on transparency, and exceptions to that rule are carefully limited.


Clown Doll said:


> To me, on a personal basis it depends on :
> 1. Is the person who would be the target of the action someone who's involved in socio-political campaigning and therefore choosing to be in the public eye.
> 2. Do they themselves approve of such underhanded tactics used against people who they consider "acceptable targets".
> 3. Does it open parties that aren't responsible for the person's behavior(for example underage kids, their parents, etc.) for unnecessary harassment and is it likely that those persons would get harassed.
> ...


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## Mrs Paul (May 22, 2016)

I think doxing comes a wee too close to the stalking line.  You're no longer just doing the PALATR thing.  It could also affect people around them who didn't ask to be involved (family, friends, co-workers, etc).  Or worse -- it could turn around on you.  (If you can find their info, they can find your's.  I don't need that shit).  Poking fun at lolcows isn't enough of a priority in my life to actually go that far.  I'd rather just sort of poke them with a stick.  

(Unless, of course, you get the occassional dumbfuck like Chris, who doxed himself.  Then it's fair game.  Or if you know of a situation like AO's, reporting it could be considered a good thing.)


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## AP 297 (May 22, 2016)

My stance on Doxing is to use it as a tool. There are lots of choices in how you interact with a person and gather information.

You can attempt to draw them out to get more info either by playing on their anger, vanity, pride, desire to argue(lots of people who come here want a "formidable opponent"), or other weakpoints that every person has. Knowing you can often get a person to leak details of their own personal life here  just like they did on their pages opens options in conversations.
You can gather the scraps they have already left on the internet and piece together where they have been and what they have been doing.
You can try to blunt force argue with them and insult them in an escalating match to see if you can knock them off their emotional balance. This differs from the first because you are not actually trying to gather any information. It is more about attrition and grinding.
You can shatter their sense of separation regarding their internet life and their real life and also remove their emotional balance.
Doxing can be a very effective tool in dealing with people of interest. It is an option when dealing with a person of interest. I seldom drop dox on anyone other than Pedos.

Most people aren't worth it. There's the possibility of collateral damage, but also I find that posting a pic of their house you find on google street to be just as effective in knocking a person off balance. I can name several people of interest who a simple photo of their house made them open up or at least got a really funny reaction from them.

The problem, it is a gamble. Dropping everything can often force a person to flee. Some come back when they realize that "they got doxed and nothing happened, hurrhurrhurr", but most people panic when that barrier of their online activities and their real lives is removed. 

@Watcher compared doxing to pulling a person's pants down. I would argue you are really shattering a part of their identity.

You can't be an internet tough guy when everyone can see what you look like, knows exactly where you live, and everything has real world consequences. Every other internet trope works the same way, too. Reality is not as forgiving or as granting as the internet can be.


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## Rou (May 22, 2016)

SunLightStreak said:


> My stance on Doxing is to use it as a tool. There are lots of choices in how you interact with a person and gather information.
> 
> You can attempt to draw them out to get more info either by playing on their anger, vanity, pride, desire to argue(lots of people who come here want a "formidable opponent"), or other weakpoints that every person has. Knowing you can often get a person to leak details of their own personal life here  just like they did on their pages opens options in conversations.
> You can gather the scraps they have already left on the internet and piece together where they have been and what they have been doing.
> ...


As you describe it, it's difficult to do and has a good chance of blowback and collateral damage while at the same time the effectiveness being dubious at best. Even for pedos, I don't think it's worth it, unless there's some real evidence of them committing abuse then it should be shared with the proper authorities and no one else.


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## Dr. Boe Jangles Esq. (May 22, 2016)

Vitriol said:


> When you spell it with one x.


The added "x' makes it metal.


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## AP 297 (May 22, 2016)

Rou said:


> As you describe it, it's difficult to do and has a good chance of blowback and collateral damage while at the same time the effectiveness being dubious at best. Even for pedos, I don't think it's worth it, unless there's some real evidence of them committing abuse then it should be shared with the proper authorities and no one else.



It is easy to find dox these days if you know what you doing. Very easy. I would even say most people of interest dox themselves, too.

James Terry Mitchell had his address on his facebook page for years.

Still, It is harder though to drop dox without chasing a person away or making them go silent. I think just a house photo is enough. From my brief experience here, I think that it is not the first card you should play.

Digging and a probing for weak points are better options. If this was a game of spades - I would say that doxing a person is playing the ace of spades. Doing it on the first move is like playing that card first. It is admittedly, the one of the heaviest handed moves possible. Once you play it, it makes shocking the person a whole lot harder if they remain online. We have gone for that card a bit too often lately as a first resort. It is not something I like, tbh. We could do without actually publishing those things first.

As for pedos, I find nothing wrong with doxing them.


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## autisticdragonkin (May 28, 2016)

Ntwadumela said:


> pedophilic


Only pedophilia was actually dangerous out of your list


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## Ntwadumela (May 28, 2016)

autisticdragonkin said:


> Only pedophilia was actually dangerous out of your list


Good point.


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## POWER IN MISERY (May 28, 2016)

Ntwadumela said:


> Good point.



to me if it involves someone sticking his peter where a peter should never go or burning cats in their oven it's fair game


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## OtterParty (May 28, 2016)

Doxxing is acceptable if they have children who can also be doxxed


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## Bluebird (May 28, 2016)

@Dynastia can you give us your insight as a professional doxxer?


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## AnOminous (May 28, 2016)

Using two xxes is the signature of a tumblrina.


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## Joan Nyan (May 28, 2016)

Ntwadumela said:


> a danger and a risk to other people's online safety, such as someone foulmouthed, racist, homophobic,


Nice tumblrism. How can you even be a "risk to other people's internet safety?" Are they going to beat someone up through their phones?


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## Ntwadumela (May 28, 2016)

Jon-Kacho said:


> Nice tumblrism. How can you even be a "risk to other people's internet safety?" Are they going to beat someone up through their phones?


Yeah, looking back on that post? I wanna cut a large part of it. Besides that, epic win response.


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