Definition: When a hacker or digital stalker gains access to your system, silently rifles through your personal files, and then returns everything with a creepy note instead of stealing or destroying it. It’s the unsettling realization that someone was virtually rifling through your digital drawers like a phantom real estate agent staging your life.
The term blends “ghost” (invisible presence) and “gaslighting” (psychological manipulation), capturing the violation of privacy paired with the mind-game of them judging you harmless. Finding a “Be more careful :)” note on your desktop after files vanish and reappear is peak ghostlighting.
Example: After my private photos folder vanished overnight, it reappeared with a text file titled “Cute vacation pics :)” left on the desktop, classic ghostlighting.
My work documents were subtly rearranged and returned with a cryptic “Be more secure next time” sticky note, leaving me feeling violated and ghostlighted.