Doxing Policy and Guidance

Yale University is dedicated to cultivating respectful and safe community spaces, both in person and online, for students, faculty, and staff. As such, Yale prohibits all forms of harassment, including doxing.  Complaints of doxing by members of the community will be addressed through the same processes and applying the same standards by which the university addresses other forms of alleged harassment. Harassment is defined as behavior that is severe or pervasive and will be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable person in the position of the complainant.

Doxing (or “doxxing”) is harassment by means of public dissemination of an individual’s or their family member’s personal information for the purpose of intimidating, threatening, or retaliating against the individual or encouraging others to do so. A person’s personal information includes private information that the individual has not made public or has not authorized another person or organization to make public. This information may include, but is not limited to, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, and personally identifying images, videos, or sound recordings. Public dissemination of such information may be accomplished by publishing or sharing the information through various physical, electronic, or online platforms, including, but not limited to, text messages, emails, social media, and other electronic and/or printed media. Personal information does not include information regarding a person’s public activities (e.g. public social media posts, publications, speeches); or information related to a person’s activity in a public forum (e.g. presence at a demonstration or outdoor event accessible to the public).

This policy is not intended to limit the exercise of free expression.  Learn about the university’s free expression policy  and guidance on free expression.

Concerns regarding doxing may be brought to the following staff and offices: for students, their deans of students; for postdoc and postgrad academic appointees to the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs; for staff, their human resources business partner; for faculty, their chair or dean. For complaints of doxing based on protected characteristics, members of the Yale community should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).   

Additional resources and support for those experiencing doxing are available in Student Life Resources.

If you believe you are at risk of immediate harm, please contact the Yale Police Department.