Doxxing is the collection and posting personal information found online with the intent to harass through exposure of an individual. While not technically illegal, it is clearly considered harassment by most internet users.
Thus, bills have been proposed to establish its prohibition by law and to be considered a criminal offense.
Doxxing Do I have to worry?
Probably not. Doxxing is generally a targeted form of harassment, and if you have no reason to worry, you are probably safe. You usually make it to famous Internet users, or real-life users. Many Internet users have an electronic nickname, avoiding disclosing more information about them.
Here comes the doxxing.
After searches the real name is revealed, but also other private ones information and published online, revealing a person's true identity to everyone. This of course is an important one infringement of the victim's private life.
If your name is publicly released, your phone number and your real address make you vulnerable to too many online crimes, such as swatting, physical harassment, and stalking to name a few of them. Of course, and you are more vulnerable to targeted attacks Phishing, as attackers know much more information that could spark your interest.
Let us mention that if your presence at Internet it is not important, no need to worry. But if you are a public person and take part in political (and non) discussions, on websites like Twitter and Facebook (which have stored many of your personal information) a wrong word can cause reactions from those who disagree with you.
Occasionally, we have seen very unfortunate events with wrong doxxing, like 2013, when in Reddit accused a wrong person for the terrorist attack in Boston. The accused was not the bomber. He was a victim who had died after the bomb exploded, and his family had to deal with his defense until the real suspect was found.
How to protect yourself
The majority of doxxing attacks happen where they exist privacy, that is, through social networks and not by hacking into personal computers.
It is very difficult to stop it because there are users who share too much data online. Here, let's say that even if you think your information is hidden, it is not.
For example, even if you have hidden your birthday on Facebook, with a search in your timeline for the terms "happy birthday" "to live" "Happy Birthday" etc, your birthday will appear. Once an attacker learns exactly when you were born, they may have easier access to data available on other services.
So hiding your birthday can only protect you from people who do not know how to discover data.
On the other hand, hiding all your personal information is contrary to the terms of social networks.
It certainly makes sense not to post your address, phone number, or birthday on Internet, but there are also some who can infer a lot about you from your seemingly innocuous posts. Every little detail can be used to reveal the next.
Deleting old posts and being aware of what data your posts hide is a choice which can help you if you don't choose the radical solution of completely deleting your account.