‘What It’s Like to Get Doxed for Taking a Bike Ride’

Olivia Nuzzi, reporting for New York Magazine on a terrifying case of mistaken identity:

It was based on that initial, false information that Weinberg had become a suspect for the internet mob. To his surprise, the app that he used to record his regular rides from Bethesda into Georgetown via the Capital Crescent Trail shared that information publicly, not just with his network of friends and followers. Someone had located a record of his ride on the path on June 2, matched it to the location of the assault from the video, matched his profile picture — white guy, aviator-style sunglasses, helmet obscuring much of his head — to the man in the video, and shared the hunch publicly.

It took off. Weinberg didn’t know what “doxing” meant, but it was happening to him: Someone posted his address.

Twitter mob justice run amok — just awful. Read through to the end for the best “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can get its shoes on” kicker you’ll ever read. When it comes to a furious Twitter mob, the truth doesn’t even have shoes.

Also, a serious lesson regarding the use of any sort of app that combines location-tracking with social media. I was going to say that if you use Strava, you should check your settings, but really you should check your settings for all apps with location access.

★ Monday, 8 June 2020