Protecting your child from doxxing: a parent guide

Online disagreements can escalate fast—and doxxing often follows. Here’s how to understand the risks, reduce exposure, and respond confidently if it happens to your child.

What is doxxing?
Doxxing is the deliberate exposure of someone’s personal information online—names, addresses, school or workplace details, family info, and even financial or health records. Motivations range from revenge and bullying to extortion (for example, criminals leaking children’s data to force a ransom) or a misguided belief in serving the public interest.

How doxxing happens

• Recon: Scanning social profiles for locations, schools, workplaces, and other personal details—especially when profiles are open or privacy is weak.
• Data correlation: Tracking reused usernames across sites, checking public records (e.g., court filings), WHOIS data for domains, and reverse-lookup services.
• Intrusive tactics: Phishing for logins and personal info, deploying infostealer malware, or pulling breached data from cybercrime forums.

Why kids are especially vulnerable

• Emotional impact: Adolescents are highly sensitive to shame, peer acceptance, and online reputation—raising risks of anxiety, isolation, and low self-esteem.
• Physical risks: Doxxers may incite pile-ons or enable “swatting,” where false emergencies trigger dangerous police responses.
• Long-term fallout: The internet remembers—exposed data can affect college admissions and job prospects years later.

Reduce the risk: practical steps for parents

• Lock down privacy: Update social settings, disable geolocation, and regularly prune followers.
• Choose friends carefully: Only accept people your child knows and trusts offline.
• Strengthen logins: Use strong, unique passwords stored in a password manager and enable MFA everywhere.
• Audit your child’s digital footprint: Search their name and request removals from platforms or sites if needed.
• Rethink sharenting: Avoid posting identifying photos, school names, addresses, or schedules.
• Keep communication open: Explain doxxing, model healthy conflict resolution online, and ensure your child feels safe coming to you.

If your child is doxxed: act fast but stay calm

• Don’t engage with the doxxer.
• Save evidence: Screenshot posts, threats, and where personal info appears.
• If there’s a safety threat, contact the police immediately.
• Report to the social platform or site host for TOS violations and removal.
• Submit a Google removal request to limit exposed PII in search results.
• If accounts may be compromised, change passwords, enable MFA, and set profiles to the highest privacy level.
• Support your child emotionally and reinforce that it’s not their fault.

Bottom line
Proactive privacy habits and open communication dramatically lower the odds of doxxing—and make it easier to respond effectively if it happens.

Source: WeLiveSecurity