Doxing Is Illegal In Utah But You Could Still Become A Target

Though it has been around for a while, doxing is still a concern for many people, including Utahns. 

Pretty much since technology has been on the rise and online forums became popular, doxing has been an issue. It is when someone’s personal information such as name, address, financial records, etc. are posted without consent. This is usually for malicious purposes and there have been accounts of online streamers being doxed with SWAT teams. 

So, not only can your personal information be shared, but someone could send a SWAT team to your home or even have random pizza deliveries. Though the pizza deliveries don’t sound too bad, the invasion of privacy would be awful. 

There aren’t any statistics in Utah for doxing, but this could also be because the state made it illegal in 2017. Utah is one of the 13 states who has made doxing a criminal offense leaving many others with no punishment associated with the action, Stand With public Health said.  

National data shows that 1 in 5 people in 2022 had been victims of doxing. Some issues victims reported were death threats, stalking, depression, insomnia, and anxiety which are all tell-tale signs of trauma when combined.  

How To Protect Yourself from Doxing in Utah 

Though doxing has legal consequences in Utah, that doesn’t mean that it can’t happen to you. Tech Report gave some advice to help prevent this from happening. 

• Use a VPN which can be used across multiple devices. This helps protect your identity since it's a private network you oversee. 
• When posting photos, remove the metadata beforehand so people can’t track your current location or where you have been. 
• Google yourself to monitor activity related to you. 
• Use strong passwords so hackers will have a difficult time getting your personal information. 
• Don’t post personal information or do so sparingly.