I thought "doxxing" meant exposing someone's real identity by linking it to their online account or behavior, usually with malicious intent. So, LFJ paying someone to identify KF users is definitely doxxing—it ties an online username to a real person and even included a call-to-action against hiring them again.
On the other hand, KF archiving public content from real-world accounts isn't doxxing—it’s just documenting. Once they've put themselves on the radar, I think it's fine to go to whatever legal lengths of research to find what comes back with their voluntarily presented real name and info.
Trying to label it as something else seems unnecessary. We should just continue using "doxxing" correctly, especially when "doxxing" describes their harmful behavior.
I’m also confused about the need to post personal addresses. Even if public clues make it easy to find, revealing them doesn’t feel justifiable. Archiving posts holds people accountable for their words and actions, but sharing PII lacks utility and adds unnecessary risk. If we claim any ethical high ground, our actions need consistency.
This is an instance of someone (Eric Taxxon) using "doxxing" the incorrect way. He quite literally went by his legal name online, then gets surprised when people look that name up, find information associated with it, then use it. That is Meaning B. That's what we don't want to be called doxxing, as doxxing involves personal information which is not easily available publicly.
This is what OP says should be referred to by phonebooking, sunshining, deets.
I agree that if someone uses their rea name, it’s not doxxing when others find and use public info tied to it. To me, doxxing applies when private details, separated by intentional anonymity, are maliciously connected.
I once Googled someone’s SN from a psychedelic forum and found his IG with his real name, photos, etc. His forum posts documented his clandestine lab. While no effort was needed to "unmask" him, I’d still consider it doxxing if I exposed the connection. If he had linked his IG or mentioned it used the same SN as the forum, it’d be fair game since he made the connection himself.
Decent OPSEC is essential, but doxxing should hinge on intent and whether someone deliberately separates their identity. Because otherwise, when anybody can be reliably exposed these days, "easily available publicly" will just cover for and justify unethical means, too. It essentially retroactively establishes a successful doxxing AS the justification for doing it.
