Hacker News

So it is doxxing if the doxxed committed wrongdoings from the perspective of... the doxxer? Ideals, morality, alignment, goals and purpose are and have always been a static constant for all humankind. There is no pineapple pizza, it is a lie, for I don't like it, and therefore nobody else ever did either.

So basically it's like Terrorism or Genociding, where if it's against the team you are rooting for, it is that, and if it's not against your in-group it's just War?

I'd rather "doxxing" just mean "de-anonymizing" because that's 1) how I already read it, 2) removes the whole "who is the more moral side in this dispute therefore has the right to make the accusation" problem

If someone wasn't previously known, only an alias or alter-ego, but you then link those together with a real-life identity, that's very much the definition of "doxxing", at least the original definition, maybe it's different today? Positive or negative doesn't really matter, just like "shooting" or "jumping" in itself isn't positive or negative, it's just a verb.

This does seem close to the original intent of "doxxing", where information ("dox") is publicized that connects a real-world identity to a previously anonymous online persona. These are hackers in the classic sense who were going out of their way to stay anonymous.

The dilution of the word doxxing has been interesting, though. Some of the recent "doxxing" controversies have been about figures who weren't all that anonymous to begin with. The pop culture meaning has been extended to cover any mention of someone's real identity at all, even if it wasn't a secret.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”

I think this is not how wanted lists work, here in Germany at least. Do they work this way where you are living? The goal of wanted lists in Germany is to find the person the police is searching for to put them in front of a court if the prosecution can make a case.

Perhaps this goes back to leftist terrorism in Germany in the 1970s, they would not use the code names of terrorists on the wanted lists but their real names to find them, because this is what they wanted - but I don't know.

Back in the day, being doxed meant having your real name, address, phone number, email, etc. posted online for anyone to do what they would.

This seems to be just issuing an arrest warrant.

Uh, you think they should just put "UNKN" on the wanted list instead of the person they believe is UNKN? That's not very helpful...

It also has something to do with the so called "Hackerparagraph" [1] under which whitehat hacking is basically impossible in Germany. Even writing a program that could potentially be used for hacking is a crime. If you followed the law word for word the authors of e.g. curl could be charged under this law.

1: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorbereiten_des_Aussp%C3%A4hen... [de]

Maybe the special agents watched the talk in their free time

Semantic shift happens over time. A 2026 article is supposed to communicate to 2026, not 1996, readers.

I can't find it in the jargon file: http://catb.org/jargon/html/D.html

Certainly, criminals also have a right to privacy. However, the limited publication of personal data of criminals by law enforcement is generally a legally legitimate measure. Doxxing, on the other hand, is generally a process that violates the fundamental right to privacy.

not the state, but the law

"Identifying a criminal" doesn't imply that it's done by the government, and being done by the government doesn't imply that it's done to a criminal. This comment seems like quite a leap.

Innocent until proven guilty (in a court of law)?

ethics and morality are not interchangeable are they?

anyway individuals willingly give to teh state some autonomy in return for the safety of governance... that's the social contract free people have with government

"doxxing" a Russian ransomware group is the kind thing to do. bombing them out of existence is within the remit of the range of ideas a government could resort to...

They put the person on a wanted list.

I mean doxxing is totally incorrect. Let's say for example there was a person on film near a crime scene, even though the police know they weren't directly involved there is no violation of privacy in the US if the police post their picture and ask for them to come forward. Or even later find out their name and look for them publically.

Classic money laundering.

I find it entertaining that even as part of a Russian hacking gang, the real threat is the Russian tax authorities. Regardless of how you got the money, need to pay the taxes.

> 56.10 — Restaurant activities and food delivery services

That one is a classic for russian criminals and warlords.

The parent commenter has apparently never heard of organized crime.