If you ask most people what doxing is, you’ll likely be met with a look of sheer confusion. Doxing (also spelled “doxxing”), in the most general sense, is cyberbullying. The process involves using, or threatening to use, secret or sensitive information, records, or statements for the purpose of harassing, exploiting, or harming another person.
Doxing is illegal in Arizona, as well as in about ten other states. The specifics are contained in A.R.S. 13-2916, which was signed into law only a few years ago, in 2021. That statute makes it illegal – a Class 1 misdemeanor – to threaten, intimidate, or harass a person by taking any one of a number of actions that involve the use of electronic communications. These actions may involve:
• Threatening the infliction of physical harm.
• Direction lewd or obscene language to the other person.
• Repeatedly disturbing the peace and/or privacy of the other person, using anonymous or unwanted electric means.
• Distributing, without consent, the personal identifying information of someone in order to embarrass or injure the other person, or a member of the other person’s immediate family.
Doxing includes a host of different acts involving electronic communications. Here is a typical example. A person creates a fake social media account for someone else. In the account, the person discloses personal identifying information including the address, telephone number, email address, and/or other personal identifying information for the specific purpose of harassing and/or humiliating the target of the social media post. In another example, known as “doxware,” hackers obtain sensitive information, demanding payment in exchange for not releasing the information publicly.
Finally, although doxing is not specifically covered under federal law, the disclosure of certain personal information of a “covered person” (federal jurors, court officers, informants, and others) with intent to harass, intimidate, or threaten, could result in a sentence of up to five years in prison. 18 U.S.C. § 119. Compare that to the potential six month sentence under Arizona law!
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