One of the things we’re always harping on about here at The Bitcoin Manual is the importance of Bitcoin security and keeping your private keys safe which is paramount importance. No-one is going to be able to help you if you lose access to your Bitcoin wallet! Or at the very least, it will be extremely difficult to recover any lost funds.
However, one thing that makes me squirm every time I see it on Twitter, social media or even when I’m at meet-ups is when people divulge their Bitcoin holdings. This is known as self-doxing or “doxing yourself”.
Doxing
Usually, doxing occurs when your personal details are leaked online with malicious intent from someone else. Perhaps that someone else is an angry, deranged ex or criminals who have hacked databases. Whoever or whatever it may be, we can probably all agree that the feeling is totally unpleasant when your private details get in to the wrong hands.
When you dox yourself though, that’s a different kettle of fish altogether!
You either have a vendetta against yourself or you simply couldn’t care less about your own privacy and share your personal details yourself.
In the case of Bitcoin, this is when you share your Bitcoin (or “crypto/shitcoin”) holdings in a public forum for all to see. As Bitcoin and yes, even shitcoins, are hot property, if anyone with bad intentions hears or sees what you have then it makes you a target for attack, be it online or heaven forbid, offline.
Respecting Your Privacy
This is where the argument of those who say they “have nothing to hide” breaks down. Your business is your business and having privacy around sensitive information such as finances should be in everyone’s best interests, that includes Bitcoin hodlers.
All these apps, centralised exchanges and hot wallets are weak links in the chain for your privacy. Hacks and data leaks happen more often than we’d like to think, even with well known corporations like Facebook and LinkedIn. It wouldn’t surprise me if the vast majority of everyone’s info is out there on the dark web.
So yes, privacy needs to be protected and the “nothing to hide” attitude of many online may change if they get an unsolicited visit.
Keep It To Yourself
It goes without saying that the best port of call here is to refrain from sharing your holdings in a public forum, especially social media or blagging about it to your mates offline. It’s very easy to fall in to the trap of wanting to show off your mooning shitcoins or Bitcoin position but keep it to yourself. You never know who might be listening!
These moon boys and girls who are sharing screenshots of their holdings, earnings and weekly amounts online are asking for trouble or begging for attention. You could argue that they get the wrong kind of attention.
We get it, you took the gamble, it paid off but that will come to nothing if the next day you come up against a $5 dollar wrench attack.
Practice Safe Bitcoin
We’ve spent a lot of time putting together the security pages on The Bitcoin Manual.
This section of the site has a full list of tips to upgrade your security, which includes using different email address, set up a PO box and scams to look out for – yes that also includes shitcoins!
Some “social chains” also can be deceiving in that everything you do is traceable after you set-up your username so if you want to keep things private, use a non-identifying name.
So do yourself a favour and practice safe Bitcoin, keep those coins safe and for goodness sake, don’t dox yourself!
