Technology
Tesla doxxing attacks wrongly target nonowners across America
The recent surge of attacks on Tesla owners, dealerships and charging stations has morphed into a broader campaign of intimidation, fueled by weaponized personal data. But the fallout isn’t limited to Tesla owners alone.
Sites like “Dogequest” have published names, addresses and phone numbers supposedly belonging to Tesla owners, yet many victims never owned a Tesla or sold theirs years ago. Some were misidentified due to errors in public records or outdated databases, turning ordinary people into targets for harassment and threats. The site’s operators have even demanded proof of sale from anyone seeking removal, putting the burden on innocent people to clear their names.
As the DOJ and FBI label these attacks as domestic terrorism and ramp up investigations, the chilling reality is that anyone, even those only suspected of owning a Tesla, can find themselves exposed and at risk.
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A Tesla supercharger (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How innocent people get caught in the crossfire
On March 18, 2025, a hacker group launched “Dogequest,” a website featuring a searchable map of supposed Tesla owners and employees. The site didn’t just list dealerships and charging stations; it exposed names, home addresses, phone numbers and emails, sometimes even in real time. The twist? Many of the people listed never owned a Tesla at all.
The data fueling this attack came from public vehicle registration records and third-party databases, notorious for their inaccuracies. Some victims had sold their Teslas years ago. Others were never owners, just mistakenly linked by a typo, a recycled phone number or a database error. Yet they found themselves on a digital hit list, with their privacy and safety at risk.
The real-world consequences
This isn’t just an online problem. Firebombings at showrooms, bullets through dealership windows and threats to families have all been linked to these doxxing campaigns. Law enforcement, including the DOJ, now calls it domestic terrorism. And because the data is so often wrong, anyone could be next, regardless of whether you’ve ever set foot in a Tesla.
“Doxxing” affecting Tesla and non-Tesla owners alike (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why misidentification matters to everyone
If you think you’re safe because you don’t own a Tesla, think again. The same flawed data sources that misidentified Tesla owners exist for countless other products, memberships and affiliations. Today, it’s electric cars; tomorrow, it could be political donors, healthcare workers or anyone else whose data is bought and sold.
HERTZ DATA BREACH EXPOSES CUSTOMER INFORMATION
What you can do to protect yourself now
Whether your personal data was exposed in a breach, leaked by someone with inside access or scraped from people-finder sites, you’re at risk, not just if you own a Tesla, but even if you’re misidentified. Here’s how to reduce your exposure and protect yourself from becoming the next target of a doxxing attack.
Breaches and leaks
To help prevent your data from ending up in a breach or leak:
- Limit what data companies have on you in the first place. Fill in only the required fields, use email aliases and burner or VoIP numbers where possible, and use a P.O. Box in place of a street address. Provide fake details where it’s practical and legal to do so.
- Delete accounts you no longer need. That online shopping account you used once five years ago? All that personal information is still sitting there, just waiting to be breached or leaked. Look for options like “delete my data” and “delete data and close account” rather than just “close account.”
People finder sites and why you need a data removal service
Also known as people-search sites, these data brokers profit by compiling detailed personal profiles that are fully searchable and available to anyone for a small fee. They’re among the most dangerous sources of exposed personal information online. Fortunately, they’re also some of the easiest to tackle, especially with the help of a personal data removal service.
These services send legally binding opt-out requests to people-search sites and other data brokers on your behalf, ensuring your information is taken down. Some services, like our No. 1 pick, even offer custom removal options, where privacy professionals handle complex cases that go beyond automated systems.
While no service can guarantee complete data erasure from the internet, using a trusted removal service is a smart way to automate and maintain ongoing protection from hundreds of data-hungry sites over time.
CHECK OUT MY TOP PICKS FOR DATA REMOVAL SERVICES HERE
Hacker at work (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Additional critical digital defenses to implement
While removing your data from brokers and minimizing online footprints are essential first steps, true safety in this new era of weaponized information also requires securing our digital infrastructure against both physical and virtual threats. Here are a few steps you can take to protect your data.
Use two-factor authentication: Protect your vehicle’s account and associated emails with authenticator apps rather than SMS, which is vulnerable to SIM-swapping attacks.
Use a VPN: Mask your IP address when accessing your vehicle’s apps on public Wi-Fi to prevent location tracking and man-in-the-middle attacks. VPNs will protect you from those who want to track and identify your potential location. For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
Cabin cam caution: Disable Cabin Camera Recording under Data Sharing unless essential. While Tesla claims footage isn’t linked to identities by default, third-party app vulnerabilities could expose this data. Newer Teslas process cabin cam footage locally, but legacy models may still use cloud backups, so check your software version.
Report doxxing or cyber harassment: If you’ve been doxxed or targeted online, don’t wait to take action. Report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), ic3.gov, or to local law enforcement, as many states have laws addressing doxxing, stalking and cyber harassment. File a police report with documented evidence (screenshots, URLs, timestamps). Also, for account-specific threats, contact Tesla customer service directly to report suspicious activity and secure your account.
Kurt’s key takeaways
The reality is unsettling but not hopeless, and while the threats of our hyper-connected world can feel overwhelming, you don’t have to just hope you won’t be targeted. You can take control by arming yourself with knowledge, using the right tools, building smart habits like checking your digital footprint, using removal tools and staying alert to new threats because the attackers are organized, and it’s time we are, too.
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When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn’t initially know what to believe. “There’s a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”
Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed power user.” The city had in fact asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to Mount Hood’s watershed to meet municipal needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has a sprawling data center campus in The Dalles that already consumes about one-third of the city’s water supply.
This controversy made Reksopuro curious about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connections between tech and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected by Epoch AI and data scraped from legislation on data centers, she built an interactive map tracking AI policy around the world. She designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play through and explore to understand what are the data centers in the area and what’s actually being done about it,” Reksopuro said. She hoped to shift their opinions that way, “instead of like, through TikTok.”
Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and checks them against the existing database Reksopuro built out. “Once it does that, it will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and populate it on the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted it to be self-updating, since I’m also a student.”
Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but she thinks tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, it’s this really opaque thing — and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think that if people knew about data centers beforehand, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: ask for job training programs, tax revenue, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”
UCF commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield (University of Central Florida via Storyful)
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– OpenAI backs creation of global AI governance body led by the U.S. that would include China as a member
TOUGH CROWD: During a recent commencement ceremony at the University of Central Florida, a speaker was met with loud boos from the graduating class after declaring that artificial intelligence represents the next industrial revolution. Fox News Digital reporting captures this tense cultural moment, illustrating the mixed public sentiment and skepticism surrounding AI’s growing footprint in daily life.
A statue on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. (iStock)
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FBI Director Kash Patel listened as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
STRATEGY RESET: Tech giant Cisco is planning to eliminate thousands of jobs as the company shifts its primary focus to accelerate its artificial intelligence initiatives, a move that comes despite the company beating earnings expectations. Fox News Digital reporting details the corporate restructuring and broader economic trends pushing legacy tech firms to aggressively pivot toward AI.
ROAD HAZARD: Waymo is issuing a sweeping recall of its autonomous vehicle fleet following a concerning incident that highlighted significant safety issues with the self-driving technology. Fox News Digital reporting outlines the specifics of the recall, the nature of the safety flaw, and what this setback means for the future of fully autonomous transportation on public roads.
BOTS IN THE BAY: A newly developed, artificial intelligence-powered robot has been engineered to seamlessly change and balance vehicle tires without human intervention. Fox News Digital reporting showcases this latest innovation, exploring how automation and AI mechanics could soon revolutionize the automotive service and repair industry.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)
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Microsoft Edge is adding a new feature that will allow its Copilot AI chatbot to gather information from all of your open tabs. When you start a conversation with Copilot, you can ask the chatbot questions about what’s in your tabs, compare the products you’re looking at, summarize your open articles, and more.
In its announcement, Microsoft says you can “select which experiences you want or leave off the ones you don’t.” The company is retiring Copilot Mode as well, which could similarly draw information from your tabs but offered some agentic features, like the ability to book a reservation on your behalf. Microsoft has since folded these agentic capabilities into its “Browse with Copilot” tool.
Several other AI features are coming to Edge, including an AI-powered “Study and Learn” mode that can turn the article you’re looking at into a study session or interactive quiz. There’s a new tool that turns your tabs into AI-powered podcasts as well, similar to what you’d find on NotebookLM, and an AI writing assistant that will pop up when you start entering text on a webpage.
You can also give Copilot permission to access your browsing history to provide more “relevant, high-quality answers,” according to Microsoft. Copilot in Edge on desktop and mobile will come with “long-term memory” as well, which can tailor its responses based on your previous conversations. And, when you open up a new tab, you’ll see a redesigned page that combines chat, search, and web navigation, along with the Journeys feature, which uses AI to organize your browsing history into categories that you can revisit.
Meanwhile, an update to Edge’s mobile app will allow you to share your screen with Copilot and talk through the questions about what you’re seeing. Microsoft says you’ll see “clear visual cues” when Copilot is active, “so you know when it’s taking an action, helping, listening, or viewing.”
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