Dox
To reveal confidential information without consent
Example
I feel so honored that the troll decided to dox me
Jelly. I've never been doxxed
I'm kinda mad, tho. They doxxed my Roblox password
Related Slang
h4x0r | Hacker |
2FA | Two-factor authentication |
Comped | Hacked |
Troll | A person who posts offensive comments |
Griefer | An irritating player |
Swatting | Creating a false emergency to get a SWAT team to respond |
HTTPS | HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure |
NASL | Name, age, sex, location |
Stealth banning | Secretly moderating a user's posts |
Shadowban | To secretly censor a social media user's content |
Dox is when you publicly reveal the information of a person or organization without their consent. For example, if you publish a celebrity's private address on TikTok, you doxxed them.
Origin of dox
The slang term "dox" originated in the early 1990s among hackers as an abbreviation for "documents." In this context, the documents represent a person's sensitive information that a hacker obtains and shares with others. So, when they dox (or d0x) a person, they share their personal information with others, typically the public.
While dox was common slang for hackers, it did not become popular until the 2010s, partially due to the rise of social media. Examples of doxxing include hacking into celebrities' phones and uploading revealing photos online, tracking Elon Musk's private jet on Twitter, posting sensitive information in the Kiwi Farms forum to harass people, sharing sensitive information about an ex, or dumping a database of users' information online hacked from a company.
Is doxxing bad?
Most people view doxxing negatively since it involves sharing people's confidential information without their knowledge or approval. Many people classify it as a form of cyberbullying.
Also, the method by which people obtain secretive information may be illegal, whether hacking into a company's database or a person's phone or breaking into someone's house or business. However, people may also gather information legally, and then report it on "dox sites."
Additionally, doxxing often leads to dangerous behavior, unfortunately. Some examples include stalking, identity theft, burglary, intimidation, and murder.