How To Protect Yourself From Doxxing

Updated on July 25, 2024.

Doxxing, also spelled doxing, can be as harmless as bogus email sign-ups or pizza deliveries, or as dangerous as someone physically assaulting your family or employer, swatting your house, identity theft and other types of cyberbullying. You can protect yourself from doxxing by following basic cybersecurity precautions such as keeping a clean digital footprint, removing your information from people finder sites and using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 

Continue reading to learn what doxxing is and how you can avoid from getting doxxed. 

What does it mean to get doxxed?

Doxxing is when a threat actor steals and publishes your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) online. This can include publishing your home address, credit or debit card numbers, place of work, email address and other sensitive information, without your permission. Threat actors often use doxxing to get revenge against someone, extort them for money, harass them or to simply troll them. 

5 tips to avoid getting doxxed

Here are some tips to secure your information online and protect yourself from doxxing.

1. Clean up your digital footprint

Your digital footprint refers to the collection of traceable data left behind by your unique online activity. This includes your social media posts, browsing history, browser cookies and other online data. Cybercriminals will try to use your digital footprint to dox you. You should clean up your digital footprint to prevent from becoming a victim of doxxing. 

Some ways you can clean up your digital footprint are by Googling yourself, contacting websites with your personal information and requesting them to delete it. You can also delete inactive accounts, private your social media profiles and only accept following or friend requests from people you know and trust.

2. Remove yourself from people search sites

People search sites, also known as people finder sites, are websites that collect, publish and sell your personal information online. They are a type of data broker that collects data from public records, public forums and social media platforms. Cybercriminals can use people search sites to gather information about you and use it to dox you.

You can remove yourself from people search sites by doing the following:

1. Search your name on a search engine
2. Gather a list of people search sites with your personal information
3. Find the site’s opt-out page
4. Submit a request to opt-out of displaying your personal information on the site
5. Repeat the process for each website.

3. Use a VPN

A VPN is a service that protects your online privacy by encrypting your internet connection and masking your IP address. With a VPN, you can prevent doxxing attacks as it helps you remain anonymous online and have a secure internet connection. Using a VPN allows you to browse the internet safely without cybercriminals intercepting and stealing your data. 

4. Avoid oversharing on social media

You should avoid oversharing on social media to prevent doxxing attacks. Oversharing on social media allows cybercriminals to learn more about you and use that information against you. To avoid oversharing on social media, you need to be wary of what you post online, monitor who follows you on all of your social media accounts and secure your accounts with strong passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5. Use a password manager

Cybercriminals may try to compromise your online accounts so they can gather your personal information. It’s important that you use strong, unique passwords to protect your online accounts from cybercriminals trying to steal and expose your personal information. Investing in a password manager can help by aiding you in generating and securely storing your passwords. Some password managers like Keeper® can also generate and store Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) codes, helping to protect your online accounts with an extra layer of security. 

Stay protected against doxxing

Unfortunately, most doxxing is not considered illegal because the leaked information is publicly available. You need to protect your personal information from doxxing by securely storing it in a safe location such as a password manager. Keeper Password Manager allows you to securely store your sensitive information in an encrypted vault that only you can access with your master password. 

The Keeper Vault is protected with zero-knowledge encryption, ensuring no one but you can access your stored information. Sign up for a free trial of Keeper Password Manager today to protect yourself from doxxing