Instructional Leadership, emphasis: K-12 School Leadership (MEd)
Overhead view of the Flagstaff campus with snowcapped mountains in the background.
  1. NAU
  2. Threat Assessment and Management
  3. Tools and resources
  4. Doxxing

Reporting and protecting yourself from doxxing

What is doxxing?

A student working on their laptop from home with a coffee cup on the table.

Doxxing is a relatively new term. You have been doxxed when an unauthorized individual accesses your private information and then publishes the information (on social media or other public platforms) in an attempt to shame or embarrass you. Often, unauthorized individuals or groups can access private and confidential information, images, or videos from personal accounts.

How can I protect myself from doxxing?

The risk of being doxxed grows with the increasing amount of identifiable information you share on social media and online. Taking a few extra steps to hide, scatter, or make it more difficult to access personal information online can throw doxxers off your scent and help protect your privacy.

  1. Adjust your social media settings to:
  • Ensure that your profiles, usernames/handles are kept private.
  • Remove any addresses, places of work, and specific locations from your accounts.
  • You should never share any personal information such as your photos, phone numbers, email, home address, etc. In addition, be wary of fake phishing sites.
  1. Set your posts to “friends only. “Keep your profiles private and remove any addresses, places of work, and specific locations from your accounts.
  2. Avoid discussing personal information that could be used against you, as well as anything that can identify your address, workplace, or contact information.
  3. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
  4. If you must use public Wi-Fi, turn off the public network-sharing functionality on your device.
  5. Use strong passwords. Always use complex passwords, as they are more difficult to hack. Your password should be at least 12 characters with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and other special keyboard characters.
  6. Use two-step authentications when available.
  7. Vary usernames and passwords across platforms. Try to set unique usernames for each website you are signed up with. If you are signed up for a controversial website or forum, make sure your username is anonymous and cannot be traced back to you. For social media, avoid using your first and last name in your username, as this is a dead giveaway if someone is trying to locate and track you.
  8. Be wary of online quizzes and app permissions.
  9. Hide domain registration information from WHOIS (a database of all registered domain names on the web)

What to do if you feel threatened

We have steps if you (or family members or co-workers are doxxed and feel threatened. Anyone who is experiencing doxxing should consider taking these actions: 1) if they [or you] feel threatened, immediately notify NAU PD and/or local law enforcement, as appropriate; and 2) report non-urgent actions to the university’s Threat Assessment and Management Team (TAMT).

The TAMT meets frequently to review any situation that appears to present a potential threat to campus. In addition to providing resources to those members of our campus community who might feel threatened, the TAMT encourages reporting to law enforcement. The TAMT considers and recommends appropriate supportive measures.