Is the truth now a form of harassment? - The ethics of doxxing

[LogicBeetch]

I think the ethics of doxing hang on two things: your intent and your absolute certainty that a situation is what you say it is. Just sharing someone's real name isn't doxing, in my opinion. Giving out a name or an address, in and of itself, is not unethical. Giving a name and phone number to a group of cut-rate, internet detectives and telling the that your proof is iron clad against the person you're naming is dangerous. In my opinion, if you're going to out someone, you had better be 100% sure you're outing the right person and outing them for the right reasons. I've seen people use complete conjecture and faulty logic to decimate a person's reputation over $10. It's childish and stupid. There's a point at which you, as the person who is about to dox someone, should ask yourself if you'd go to the proper authorities with the information you have (and are about to disclose to complete strangers). If you don't think you have a good enough case to involve actual detectives and authorities, then you probably shouldn't be putting it out there as fact. The problem with truth is that the internet is packed with people who have a pretty low standard for proof. Get them in a group with others who are out to sack someone and you start getting into shady territory because they'll feed off one another until the truth only vaguely reflects reality because they become wedded to a belief. Recently, there was some youtube drama where people were calling someone's boss and almost got them fired because they blitzed the employer with so many phone calls that it inhibited the company's ability to function. Why were they all hot and bothered? Because, the person they dox'ed agreed to do a YouTube collab with someone who they didn't like. That's lame.

 

[Rei]

Doxing has been around since usenet, it's not a new concept.

I don't think that there is much wrong with doxing if your personal information is easily accessible. If you place content on Internet that you think should be private, it doesn't make much sense when you're mad because someone got your information from a network which is designed to be publicly accessible.

Determining whether or not someone "deserves" doxing is also difficult, as what constitutes being deserved is entirely subjective. So, I look at it this way:

If you put information on the Internet that you don't want people to see, and they see it, don't be angry as a result.

 

[LogicBeetch]

Doxing has been around since usenet, it's not a new concept.

I don't think that there is much wrong with doxing if your personal information is easily accessible. If you place content on Internet that you think should be private, it doesn't make much sense when you're mad because someone got your information from a network which is designed to be publicly accessible.

Determining whether or not someone "deserves" doxing is also difficult, as what constitutes being deserved is entirely subjective. So, I look at it this way:

If you put information on the Internet that you don't want people to see, and they see it, don't be angry as a result.

I don't think you're wrong. I think young people have it worse than old fart's like myself because they've put so much of their fucking life out there on the internet (or, worse, had their parents put it out there as Sprog Pride). I think about these fucking mommy bloggers giving every fucking, little, pissant detail of their child's life to thousands of complete strangers and I wonder how long it will be until a kid sues their parent over a violation of privacy. Because, when the kid ages to 21 and does some stupid shit on YouTube or some other social media version of Mos Eisley Cantina, the internet police are going to have pictures of his circumcision, a blow-by-blow account of every "oops" he's ever made, and a list of every fucking friend he ever had. At least, for those of us who grew up before Facebook or Blogging, our pre-adult exploits are still mysterious. I guess that begs the question of what constitutes consent in putting your info out there and where that's going to put us in 10 years?

 

[QT 219]

Ten years ago, the Internet was telling people not to release their personal information. The next thing you know, these same sites are all about linking your information to other sites you use and make the explosion of social media seem like it's a local community sort of hub rather than the information treasure trove it really is. It can't be doxing if you're too stupid or narcissistic to separate your garbage opinions and shitty fan-fiction from volunteering your real name.

 

[LogicBeetch]

Ten years ago, the Internet was telling people not to release their personal information. The next thing you know, these same sites are all about linking your information to other sites you use and make the explosion of social media seem like it's a local community sort of hub rather than the information treasure trove it really is. It can't be doxing if you're too stupid or narcissistic to separate your garbage opinions and shitty fan-fiction from volunteering your real name.

I've realized this, too. I've been cautioning my children against putting their information out there. I encourage them to create pseudonyms and have separate emails for "real world" versus internt chatter. However, that lack of connection has caused accusations that they're trolls on occasion. I say, I'd rather you be a troll than have some vigilante on social media share the details of your real life with the world. Sadly, Google ruined the ability to be anonymous by requiring phone numbers tied to real phones and interconnecting things like Facebook and YouTube and Paypal.

 

[Xarpho]

It all depends on really how it's used, and the whole "they're horrible people, they deserve it" smacks of Internet vigilantism, which I have mixed feelings about (unless they have the whole "Mwa ha ha I'm anonymous, you'll never figure it out" attitude like Jake Alley had, in which case he deserved what he got). And of course, doxing is a two way street. There's a number of members that the Tumblr/Rat King crowd would love to get their hands on, and those people would prefer to stay anonymous.