How to Avoid Getting Doxxed
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Fragmented information is easily pieced together
Personal information is dispersed and sensitive—easy to overlook. Yet the internet is not a safe harbor; countless people can stitch this information together using search engines and other tools.
Take the xhs community as an example: users there have comparatively weak network-security awareness and often share the meaning behind their passwords and the scenarios in which they are used.
Searching for “password meaning” reveals a flood of users openly displaying their passwords and their explanations.
Social-engineering principles show that meaningful strings are frequently reused, leading to information leaks.
Reduce account linkage
Ordinary netizens should use randomly generated usernames and passwords to limit cross-platform account correlation.
Differing usernames and passwords alone cannot fully isolate accounts; posting the same or similar content also links them together.
With real-name registration on the mainland, every publicly posted comment or article is tied to a phone number—a strong correlation. Matching phone numbers can be taken as proof the accounts belong to the same person.
Some companies have leaked personal data on a massive scale yet faced no consequences.
Common sensitive information
This includes passwords, usernames, avatars, birthdays, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, QQ numbers, WeChat IDs, personal websites, geolocations, photographs, and more.
Doxing databases piece together personal data from disparate sources. Even if usernames and photo styles differ, matching phone numbers or other markers allow them to be linked.
This is not alarmism; it is a routine and low-threshold tactic used by doxing databases.
Improve cybersecurity awareness
The internet shortens interpersonal distance but also deepens isolation. Communities bring people together yet leave them lonelier.
We reveal ourselves in the vast crowd, hoping for resonance, only to feel as if we’re quenching our thirst with seawater.
There is no need to bare everything to strangers online. Speak cautiously, accept solitude, and cultivate yourself.
Closing
Some phrasing in this article has been kept deliberately reserved to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Readers should understand that doxing has a low barrier to entry; protecting yourself must begin with you, not with relying on others.