Keeping your real identity separate from your channel

Your audience knows your handle. The goal is to make sure that handle doesn’t lead anywhere you don’t want it to: your legal name, your personal email, your home or your family. Doxxing usually works through a small number of links between a public identity and a private one. Find those links and close them.

Where the links usually are

• An old account under the same handle that shows your real name, city or face.
• A personal email used to register your channel, domain or business, which shows up in breaches or lookups.
• Domain registration for your website, if privacy protection wasn’t turned on.
• Business records. If you formed a company for your channel, the filing may list your name and home address.
• Payment pages and tip links that show your legal name.
• Your face, if you use the same photos on personal accounts. Reverse image search links them.
• Your background. Windows, street views, packages and anything with your address on it.
• Friends and family who tag you or mention your real name.

Set up a clean separation

1. Use a separate email for everything related to your channel, and don’t use it for anything personal.
2. Use a separate phone number for account recovery and business contacts, like a second number from an app or a cheap second SIM.
3. Use a PO box or mail service for fan mail, sponsor packages and business registrations. Never give out your home address.
4. Use a registered agent if you form a business, so their address goes on public filings instead of yours.
5. Turn on privacy protection for any domain you own.
6. Check payment tools to see what name they show to the people who pay you.

Clean up the past

• Search your handle and every old handle you’ve used. Look for profiles that show your real name, city or photo, and close them or edit them. See How old accounts and usernames give you away.
• Search your legal name with your handle, to see if anything already links them.
• Check people-search sites for your legal name and opt out of any listing that shows your address or phone. Do this even if you think nobody knows your real name. It’s the end point of most doxxing chains.
• Go back through old posts and videos. Look for your face on personal accounts, your street, your school or workplace, and anything with mail in the shot.

On stream

• Check your background before you go live. Covered windows and a plain wall are safer than a view.
• Be careful with screen sharing. Notifications, browser tabs and file names can show your real name or email.
• Delay anything location-based. Post about places after you’ve left, and don’t stream from somewhere people could find.
• Watch the small details. The weather, a local accent, a siren or a holiday can all narrow down where you are. You don’t have to hide everything, but avoid stacking clues.

If someone finds you anyway

Save evidence, report it to the platform, and tell the people you live with. See What to do if you’ve been doxxed for the full steps.

How Oko helps

Oko starts from your confirmed email and phone, and the past names and usernames you add, and checks people-search sites, breaches, old accounts and search results. It then shows the routes a stranger could take from your email or handle to your real name or home. Add your past names and usernames when you set up your report so it can find more. The fixes are in order, so you can start with the links that matter most.