Doxing and the law -

[KifflomKween]

Can we have a thread just about doxing and the law?
Under what circumstances is it legal or illegal to dox?
How do you know for sure you got the right person?
What happens to someone after they get doxed and what could happen to you?
Etc

I'd like input from legal kiwis too.

 

[Rusty Crab]

What happens to someone after they get doxed and what could happen to you?

nothing, usually.

 

[Arm Pit Cream]

Under what circumstances is it legal or illegal to dox?

It's always illegal and the FBI has warrants out for dozens of users on this site. Horrifying stuff, but this is cyber warfare.

 

[Just A Butt]

Doxing is not a crime.

There is nothing illegal about posting a name or address. Phonebooks have been doing it for a century. In a lot of states, your voter registration information includes your name, email address, residential address, phone number, and party affiliation. This information is completely free and easily accessible on the Internet. Is that also a crime committed by the state?

You could make a lot of ethical arguments but none of them hold water. It is your sole responsibility to manage your anonymity on the Internet. You are not constitutionally guaranteed the right to be anonymous, you are only protected from unlawful government intrusion.

There is no law or right that prevents people from putting something you said to your name and picture, or by associating your name with your online handles. And no, there is no law preventing anyone from telling people what your name was before your sex change.

 

[Rusty Crab]

You could make a lot of ethical arguments but none of them hold water. It is your sole responsibility to manage your anonymity on the Internet. You are not constitutionally guaranteed the right to be anonymous, you are only protected from unlawful government intrusion.

There is no law or right that prevents people from putting something you said to your name and picture, or by associating your name with your online handles. And no, there is no law preventing anyone from telling people what your name was before your sex change.

Is this our version of "They're a private citizen, they can do what they want"

 

[Just A Butt]

Is this our version of "They're a private citizen, they can do what they want"

Yes

 

[Troonos]

Perfectly legal. Anyone who disagrees is a lolcow and/or retard.

 

[Angry Shoes]

I can understand the argument for doxing being illegal if information was illegally obtained (hacking, theft, etc). However almost all doxes on this website are just compiling publicly available information into one place.

 

[Oban Lazcano Kamz]

Can we have a thread just about doxing and the law?
Under what circumstances is it legal or illegal to dox?
How do you know for sure you got the right person?
What happens to someone after they get doxed and what could happen to you?
Etc

I'd like input from legal kiwis too.

doxing is always illegal and you should be ashamed for doing it!

 

[Just A Butt]

I can understand the argument for doxing being illegal if information was illegally obtained (hacking, theft, etc). However almost all doxes on this website are just compiling publicly available information into one place.

Even in this scenario, the dox itself is still legal. If they are obtained “illegally” I imagine you could prosecute on the illegal parts.

 

[Angry Shoes]

Even in this scenario, the dox itself is still legal. If they are obtained “illegally” I imagine you could prosecute on the illegal parts.

That's why I said "almost". In this case a law is already broken. So if someone says "make doxing illegal for this" they're basically saying "make this act double-illegal".

 

[Just A Butt]

I wonder. If they tried something like that, would they issue special “dox permits” to the white pages, et al?