Trans Community's 'Self-Doxing' Rave in NYC: A Digital Self-Defense Workshop to Erase Online Footprints

In a Queens event space, a digital self-defense workshop for the trans community is turning the concept of online visibility on its head. The event, '404: Deadname Not Found,' is a 'self-doxing' rave where participants are actively hunting for their own sensitive personal information online to erase it. The goal is a proactive security audit—a practice known as 'red-teaming'—where attendees sip drinks, listen to DJ sets, and use specialized tools to find and remove their digital footprints before adversaries can.

The workshop, held at Trans Pecos in Ridgewood, provides a structured 'self-doxing' ritual. A slide deck guides participants through using platforms like IntelBase, PimEyes, and HaveIBeenPwned to locate old addresses, selfies, passwords, former names, and other personal data scattered across the internet. This hands-on approach transforms a typically isolating and stressful security task into a communal, supportive event, blending cybersecurity education with a social gathering.

The initiative highlights the acute and specific digital safety pressures faced by the trans community, where personal information like a 'deadname' can be weaponized for harassment or violence. By teaching individuals to audit and scrub their own data, the workshop aims to close security gaps preemptively. It represents a grassroots, community-driven response to the pervasive risks of doxxing, offering both practical tools and a collective space to address a critical vulnerability.