Attorney-General’s Department Releases Public Consultation to Combat ‘Doxxing’ Through Privacy Reforms

What is Doxxing?

'Doxxing' is the intentional online exposure of an individual’s identity, private information or personal details without their consent. Doxxing is an abbreviation for ‘dropping documents’. The information that is doxxed may be sourced through publicly available information, research of public records or through unauthorised access to private databases and computer systems (i.e. hacking).

Sharing the information publicly undermines the target’s privacy, security, safety and/or reputation. Often those responsible for doxxing urge others to use the information to harass the person targeted.

According to the Attorney-General’s Department doxxing can refer to a number of different practices, including:

• De-anonymising doxxing – revealing the identity of someone who was previously anonymous (for example, someone who uses a pseudonym).
• Targeting doxxing – revealing specific information about someone that allows them to be contacted or located, or their online security to be breached (for example, their phone number or home address, or their account username and password).
• De-legitimising doxxing – revealing sensitive or intimate information about someone that can damage their credibility or reputation (for example, their private medical, legal, or financial records, or personal messages and photos usually kept out of public view).

What Proposed Steps is the Government Considering?

The Australian Government is proposing to enhance privacy protections for individuals through its response to the Privacy Act Review.

The proposed reforms that the Attorney-General’s Department is seeking input on are:

1. A new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy which would allow individuals to seek redress through the courts if they have fallen victim to doxxing.
2. Giving individuals greater control and transparency over their personal information, including the introduction of new or strengthened individual rights to access, object, erase, correct, and de‑index their personal information, and
3. Progressing other privacy reform proposals contained in the Privacy Act Review that bring the Privacy Act into the digital age, uplift protections, and raise awareness of obligations for responsible personal information handling.

The consultation process closes on Thursday 28 March 2024. Further information is available here: https://consultations.ag.gov.au/integrity/doxxing-and-privacy-reforms/