Sunday, April 7, 2019

To Dox Or Not To Dox, That's The Question, Or Is It?

At the moment, the hottest local news is "fake news". Reason being that Singapore Government is set to make the spreading of fake news as outlaw. Thanks to this fake news thing, I've learnt something new today. Along came the newly learnt term dox, doxing or doxxing..

So what is dox (or doxing)?

Accord to Google translate, Doxing is defined as:

"search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the Internet, typically with malicious intent."

What it means is that once the Protection from Harassment (Amendment) Bill is passed, anyone committed the act of doxing will deemed outlawed with the following penalty:

"If the personal information is published to cause harassment, alarm or distress, the maximum sentence is a $5,000 fine and 6 months jail term"

"If the personal information is published to cause fear of violence or facilitate violence, the maximum sentence is a $5,000 fine or up to 12 months jail term"

Personal information here includes names, email address, phone number, password, photograph (even such information is readily available online elsewhere, e.g. from that person's social media profile).  

I am guilty of occasionally sharing viral videos/photos (but not personal identifiable information) via my Facebook profile, I guess from now on I need to think twice (or trice) before committing any potential act of doxing. 

Cheers! 

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