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Pop Culture

Woman has people in awe after guessing a man's full birthday using only a photo of his truck

Khan's "Consensual Doxxing" series is a masterclass in internet sleuthing.

doxxing, consensual doxxing,
@notkahnjunior/TikTok

Sleuthing school is in session.

Internet sleuth and TikTok creator Kahn (who goes by @notkahnjunior) has an uncanny ability to procure a complete stranger’s personal information through a meticulous social media search, even when that person has virtually no presence online.

Okay, just to put your mind at ease from the get-go—she only does this to willing participants.

It all started when Kahn stitched a woman’s video asking viewers to guess her age. Going a mile a minute, Khan rambled off an extensive list of social media clues, coming to a very, very educated guess of 30 to 31 years old. While it’s unclear whether or not her hypothesis was ever confirmed, Khan’s video went viral, with several others asking her to try to guess their birthdays.

And thus, Khan’s “Consensual Doxxing” series was born. Doxxing is the act of obtaining personal, potentially sensitive info about an individual or organization and publicly revealing it, often for nefarious purposes. And consent is…well I hope we all know what that means by now.

While she has a ton of popular videos, her most recent investigation really blew TikTok away. Over 16 million people have tuned in to witness Kahn find the birthday of someone who goes by @jd867_5309. The real kicker to this mystery—she somehow succeeded using a photo of the man’s truck as a profile picture.

“I have kept everything on here so separate I don’t think you could find me,” the mystery truck owner wrote.

To which Kahn replied, “Oh JD, you think that because your profile picture is a truck, that I won’t find you. Well, my nickname is the bus driver. Why? Because I’m about to take your ass to school.”

@notkahnjunior Replying to @jd867_5309 ♬ original sound - kahn

Honestly, Kahn’s mastery of deduction could rival Sherlock Holmes. She scoured the man's followers list in reverse chronological order, which led her to a comment he made on someone else's TikTok profile.

Going just off of the way he made a comment (seriously) she went to that other person’s Instagram profile searching for any pictures posted around the same time featuring the same faces from that TikTok video. Then a bit of further probing and cross-referencing, and boom, she discovered that Mystery Truck Man was none other than a dude named Jace, who was born on April 26, 1991. Whoa.

Impressed? Terrified? Both? You’re not alone. This was the general reaction from folks who saw the video, with a few noting how Kahn really needed to become a bona fide investigator of some sort.

Here are a few comments:

“That’s scary and fascinating at the same time.”

“The CIA needs to start hiring these people because this is IMPRESSIVE."

“FBI OPEN UP.”

“I’m an actual criminal analyst, like I get paid to do it. But ma’am. Ma’am. You’re an inspiration.”

“You scare me. Because every time I'm like, ‘there’s no way she can do this.' And you always do."

Though Kahn is showing off her skills in the name of fun, it does illuminate how easily private information can be plucked by someone with malicious intent. Bad actors can use doxxing to harass, threaten or get revenge on others.

Plus doxxing in and of itself is rarely seen as illegal, since technically the information is publically available—though it is often connected to things like harassment, stalking, intimidation and identity theft, which certainly are against the law. Organizations like UC Berkeley,PEN America and Artist At Risk Connection suggest safety precautions like thoroughly checking privacy settings on your social media platforms, removing any addresses, places of work and specific locations from your accounts, and Googling yourself to see if private information comes up.

Though it’s clearly a serious issue, Khan is at least using her powers for good. Good entertainment, anyway.

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