Sometime in the near future, someone in the freethought community will get doxxed, that is, they will have some of their personal information published (or republished) on the internet. That person’s enemies will say they had it coming, while others will say it was completely inappropriate. Since the internet is relatively new, our parents didn’t exactly tell us how to tell right from wrong when it comes to dropping docs, we’re pretty much making this up as we go along. That said, I have a few general guidelines which I try to bear in mind for myself.
WHEN NOT TO DOX
When you’ve explicitly or implicitly promised not to reveal personal information, obviously, don’t do it. For example, I’m bound not to release personal information that I’ve come across in forums where confidentiality is one of the terms of service. I belong to private Facebook groups where it is generally understood that no one’s information published within the group will be published outside of the group. The general rule here is that if you’ve come by someone’s personal information while under an obligation of confidentiality, you need to remember that the obligation extends beyond the original forum.
Regardless of how the information is acquired, when dropping docs can only be reasonably interpreted as a personal threat, don’t do it. For example, when Greg Laden posted what he thought was the home address of an online rival, that was a clumsy attempt at online intimidation on his part. Of course, Greg has a long history of clumsy intimidation tactics, and I’ve even been on the receiving end of those myself, so this latest round of doc-dropping doesn’t particularly surprise me. I cannot think of any situation in which it is appropriate to republish someone’s home address, even if it is relatively easy to find online.
WHEN TO DOX
I’ve never actually come across a situation where I’ve felt the need to dox someone, but I can imagine that if someone was using their pseudonymity as a shield from which to launch attacks against a publicly named person, it would be tempting to release their real name (and only the name) just so as to level the playing field. For example, the “brave hero” styling himself as ElevatorGATE seems to take a sort of perverse joy in attacking people using their real names while hiding behind his pseudonym. One might even say he is GIFTed in this endeavor, and were I to become one of his targets, probably I wouldn’t think twice about tying his real world identity to his ‘nym. Certainly I cannot think of why there would be a general duty to avoid doing so, especially one that somehow extends to the targets of pseudonymous attacks.
OPENING A DISCUSSION
The guidelines above are my own, and apply only to myself. I do not ground them in any particular theory of ethics, but if I had to I’d probably provide a consequentialist account for each. My question to the broader freethought community is this – What general rules ought we to follow when it comes to protecting pseudonymous posters? What have I missed, and what rules should be added or modified?
