dox

a.k.a. doxed, doxing, doxxed, doxxing, documents, dropping dox, dropping docs

The act of releasing sensitive information online with harmful intent. In one sense doxing refers to having your personal information spilled online, or the equivalent of being outed online. In another sense, it refers to hackers locating your personal information and using it against you by sending you violent videos or committing cyberfraud.

"Dox" comes from documents, and refers to personal information about people being published on the Internet such as real name, known aliases, address, phone number, SSN, credit card number, etc. For example, "Someone dropped Bob's dox and the next day, ten pizzas and three tow trucks showed up at his house."

Historical perspective: It began as a fear of hacktivists such as Anonymous and people with online pseudonyms and digital doppelgangers but morphed into government officials, celebrities and business people getting doxed.

See also : dooce  drug dump  
NetLingo Classification: Online Jargon

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