gopherhole/paranoidsbible/What to do if Doxed.txt

===What to do if Doxed===

Non-profit and free for redistribution
Written on May 12th | 2017
Published on May 13th | 2017

For entertainment and research purposes only

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===DISCLAIMER===
The Paranoid's Bible and its writers hold no responsibility for the acts of others.

The Paranoid’s Bible is for research and entertainment purposes only.

Please visit our blog for more guides and information: https://www.paranoidsbible.tumblr.com/

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===Preface===
Many of us fear having the light of curiosity shown on us, be it through being doxed or someone becoming a bit too interested in us and what we're about. Sadly, many people don't take the needed precautions of lessening their digital footprint and removing their information from the internet. A lot of people just let it sit and fester until someone comes along and picks at the infected blister that was a forgotten account or teenage edginess, however not all is lost. If you've read the Paranoid's Bible injunction with the OPSEC, Meta Data and You, Uncle Daddy's Big Book of Deception and Hostman guides, you may have already started your adventure in privacy, yet, if you haven't... well, that's what this guide is here for: To you teach you that it's never too late even if you've been doxed.

***Reminder:*** Don't look at any other guides until you've read this one fully. You may jump the shark and do some actions too early, which could lead to greater consequences.

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===Stay Calm and Don’t React===
The majority of people who've been doxed had had their information found through simple search engine queries or because they, themselves, provided this information without knowing that they've done so. This is because we've been conditioned by social media and sites like Reddit to crave the instant gratification of arbitrary numbers that come with exposing ourselves online; baring everything we can to the perverse, voyeuristic masses that give us a +1 click on our profiles. Because of this, you've most likely have fell for the meme that the current state of doxing is something akin to CSI's take on hacking. Don't fret, though, most people who threaten to dox someone haven't found the information or aren't willing to use it, ergo relax and don't panic of a threat. Yes, take it seriously, however not all states will grant you the legal power to sue or track someone down in a digital witch-hunt. What you can do, though, is quite simple: Remove your information.

Before you remove your information, you must first monitor yourself and the threat at hand. Don't react, for if you do then they get a bigger rise out of you and a reason to actually dox you, or if they already have done so... provoke you more and continue this assault.

Simply remember: Stay calm, breathe and don't react. You don't need to defend yourself or get into a digital slap fight on the internet. Just ignore it and learn that by not reacting to any threats or accusations, you deny them one of the things they want the most: You acting out.
Now move onto the next chapter.

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===Realize it’s not always You===
One thing most people need to realize is that it’s not always them but what they are perceived as representing. Due to the political climate being so explosive, people on both sides of the spectrum are targeting each other simply because they can. This means that a Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Communist, Capitalist or Fascist or whatever will be picked out from a series of people on social media and made into an example of what happens to someone’s political or ideology’s opponent. This means you, at any given moment, could be targeted simply because you fit a preconceived image or notion of what someone believes their enemies to look like.

It's a small consolation to realize you weren't chosen, possibly, because of what you said or did, however it still means someone was upset enough to target you. Take precautions and start lessening what you say or do online when it comes to specific topics. Choose your battles carefully and wisely. Not every comment or person needs a response.

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===Identify the Source===
One of the things you need to do before looking toward cleaning your digital footprint is to identify the source of your dox or the leak of your information. While the Paranoid's Bible is a great resource for cleaning up your information and denying anyone access to it, that's a step best to take before being doxed. If you've been doxed or received a threat of being doxed, then you need to ensure your information hasn't been posted by someone within your community or on another website. If someone has posted your dox/information, then you must identify what information they've found.

If it's public information, there's not much you can do about it. This information includes your home address, phone number (landline), place of work, place of education, birth date, full name and even your car's license's plate, however while public it is personal information and some websites might actually remove it upon simple request. You must first ensure the website isn't encouraging this or a part of the act taking place. If they aren't, and it's a site like Reddit, then go ahead and ask the administrators and/or website owner to remove your information. If it's an image board or a forum, then don't ask anyone and ignore it further. However do identify what information they have found, as you can work on lessening the damage by removing information that they've yet to found.

If the information is private, like passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers or anything similar, then yes, you might actually have a case for a potential lawsuit. ***But Remember:*** It must not be information that was made public by your own actions or a data breach or leak. If this information can be found VIA Google or Bing, then a lawsuit can't take place against the people posting your information but one could be placed against the owners of the database that got breached and/or leaked.

Personal information, while both public and private, doesn't matter much because either way it matches one of the above descriptions. So don’t fret so much over whether or not it’s personal information but whether if it’s private or public. Once you’ve gotten that mindset in place, you’ll see how doxing, while quite alarming, isn’t really up for any legal actions most of the time due to the information being found readily on your own accounts or a search engine.

The Paranoid’s Bible guide goes into further detail on lessening your chances of being doxed and how to properly shrink your digital footprint. Now that you’ve identified your source(s), move onto the next chapter.

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===Act Accordingly===
Once you’ve identified the source, and learned of what information has been posted, you can act accordingly to the level of threat that’s being presented to you. While everything that’s classed as a potential threat may seem dangerous, not everything must be met with a call to arms or requests of a personal army or attorney at law.

If it’s just an account or e-mail address, then continue ignoring it and working toward removing your data and lessening the information that’s out there on you. If they’re obsessed with an old account that you can’t or have forgotten to remove, then they’re distracted and haven’t worked toward finding more information. This means you can work toward lessening the potential harm and continue toward a safer experience online.

If they’ve found your home address, regardless of how they did it, then you must look toward what you can do to lessen the potential harm that can stem from this, like, for instance, replacing your mailbox with one that can lock to prevent theft of mail. You can ensure your windows are locked and covered by blackout curtains to prevent spying, and you can even remove your phone’s custom voicemail message to the default robotic one.

You might want to look toward the PB’s "Home Phone and Landline Security" & "Home Security and You" guides. Remember though, just because they have your address or phone number doesn’t mean they’ll do anything. Most people are satisfied with going “I doxed you! You live at 123 Road Avenue, New York, New York!” and hoping someone else will say or do something. You have to fear at most, usually, getting the sophomoric junkmail spam that consists of boxes, pizzas and possibly even prostitutes. While nothing more than a prank, it does cause panic for your younger targets/victims, like the teenagers that Tumblr has inexplicably targeted.

If you’re under the age of 18 or live with someone else, you must let them know what’s happening if it has progressed as far as your phone number and/or address being posted online. The reason for this is so the other residents within the home know what’s coming off and for you, the target/victim to tell the home owner and/or adults living with you what’s happening. If it advances enough to a possible lawsuit and court date, then they’ll know about it anyways. It’s better to come clean now and deal with the brunt of the lecturing now than later as, like it or not, parents and guardians do know how to handle things better than most minors.

Ultimately, the worst they can do is tattle to your parents or contact your place of work, or go as far as to contact your landlord. This has a 50/50 chance of working against you or not, ergo another reason for you to lessen your digital footprint online. Less you do online, the less they have that they can use against you. This means less accounts, little to no social media use and learning to not tell the internet everything you've seen, said or done on any given day. Again, the Paranoid's Bible is a good resource that should be read after this guide.

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===Steps to Take===

Before we tell you what steps to take, realize that these are but small steps compared to what the guides we've mentioned in the preface can teach you, however avoid those guides till you're done with this one as it'll prevent you from making things worse. Now, however, progress by continuing with this guide and follow the steps that we've set forth.

***First and foremost:*** Learn to not react, to anything said or done to your or your accounts, and once this is over don't mention it, ever. If you let people know it's bothering you, they'll continue their assault on you and your privacy. They'll push forward, looking for even greater ways to provoke you into doing something potentially harmful to yourself and others. Even if the information is incorrect, don't react.

Just ignore them and take things slowly.

***Second, to help lessen the trust in any of your information being posted, do the following steps:***

- Blur out your house/property view on online maps.
For Bing:
1. https://www.bing.com/maps/ 
2. Type home address
3. Get to street view
4. Center squarely on house
5. Look for (?) question mark near bottom right. Be careful as it can be hidden sometimes.
6. Click it
7. Select "Report an image concern"
8. You'll get a pop-up or new tab with a panoramic image
9. Select your house, a little red square will appear then
10. Voice your privacy concern. Stating vandalism and potential break-ins by criminal elements.
11. Fill out the rest of the form + Captcha, wait
12. Save ticket (#) Number

For Google:
1. Go to Google Maps and type in your address
2. Bring up the street view of your property
3. Look to the bottom right hand corner of the screen you should see an Icon Labeled: “report a problem.”
4. Click on “report a problem.”
5. You will get a page labeled “report inappropriate street view.”
6. Look for the words “Privacy Concerns” and click on them.
7. If you want your house blurred, click on “my house.” Then choose the option: “I have a picture of my house and would like it blurred.”
8. Adjust the image and show Google which part of the photo needs blurred.
9. Type the verification code at the bottom of the page into the box provided and click submit.
10. Check back in a few days to see if the image has been blurred.

For Yahoo: Special thanks to /r/n0esc from Reddit!
1. Visit https://www.Yahoo.com/maps 
2. Drag the gray icon that resembles a person (top-right) to your street. (If it won’t drag, then your street has not been photographed for Yahoo.)
3. Click on “report image” at the bottom-left of the screen. It will take you to a different website.
4. Click on “request blurring,” and follow the directions.

- Change your phones’ voice messages to the default robotic one. This is to prevent people from confirming and verifying your number as being related to you. This also hinders people and will push some off of harassing you or constantly calling your phone number(s).

- Never answer the phone for anyone you don’t recognize. Names and phone numbers should always be scrutinized before picking up and answering. If it’s important, they’ll leave a voicemail. Yes, some people will leave harassing messages, too. If you don’t respond or make mention of these messages, no one will know. This will prevent (some) people from getting the satisfaction of knowing they’re getting to you.

- If you’ve the money and time, change your phone number to a new, private and unlisted one.

- Get your mail ASAP. The longer you leave your mail in the mailbox, the sooner someone may snap it up for nefarious means. Always get your mail and packages right away!

- Get off the blogs and stop saying things online. It’s better to lurk and learn instead of interacting and putting yourself into danger.


***If things turn violent, please follow the below:***

- Don’t open letters or packages you don’t recognize. If you didn’t order or request something in the mail, don’t risk it. If you suspect something, open all packages and letters over a plastic container large enough to house the item you suspect. While wearing gloves, eye protection and a face mask, ensure the item is being opened as carefully as possible. Record and save everything in case of issue.

- Don't delete asks/PMs/fan mail/chat requests that contain threats or anything of a similar violent nature. These can used in potential legal actions, also make copies of these by hitting CTRL+S to save a copy to your computer, and then save copies as screen caps.

- Don't delete any voice mail left on your phone(s), this can be used in potential legal actions.

- Don't destroy any documents sent your home or business, again this can be used in potential legal actions.

- Look into purchasing cameras for your property.

- Do notify the police of any incidents that happen, like property theft or damage...etc

- Cut contact with anyone you suspect.

- Don't react.

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===Afterwards===

This is the end result of social networks and the forced "inter-connectivity" meme of smart gadgets. The more we move forward to web 3.0, the smaller our pool of privacy shall become. While we can scream and whine about lawsuits and calling our uncle in the FBI, none of it matters because you've put yourself in harm's way in the first place by not remembering the simple golden rule: Don't post your real world information on the internet. Don't post your name or address online. Don't talk to strangers and don't post images of yourself, where you live, or go to school on the internet.

Call it a fad from the 90's, but privacy rocks.