What is a Digital Footprint?
Digital Footprint Meaning
Your digital footprint is any information about you that is found online, including your name, home address, phone number, birth date, locations you visited, and photos you shared and posted on social media. In the digital world, we leave behind two types of traces — active and passive digital footprints:
Protecting your digital footprint means keeping your personal information and online activities safe. It’s very important because your online presence can reveal a lot about you, and bad actors can use this information to steal your identity, trick you, or harm your reputation. By safeguarding your digital footprint, you can reduce the risk of cybercrimes, maintain a positive online image, and keep your personal data from being used for malicious intent.
Types of Digital Footprint
Active digital footprints
Think of this as the activity you consciously carry out online. For example, when you share posts, comments, or chat on social media, that’s you creating an active digital footprint. Any time you use a username on a website or sign up for newsletters, you’re also adding to it. Basically, it’s what you intentionally put out there on the internet.
Passive digital footprints
This is what happens behind the scenes. When you visit websites, they can collect information about you. They might note how often you visit, where you’re from, and even your computer’s IP address. These are passive digital footprints, and you might not even realize they’re being collected. Social media and advertisers use your likes, shares, and comments to figure out what you’re interested in in order to show you content accordingly.
Examples of Digital Footprints
The things you do online build up a digital picture of who you are. This collection of online actions is called your digital footprint, and it’s much like a mosaic of “you”. Let’s look at some of the ways you create this mosaic:
Online Shopping and Banking
Whenever you buy items online, sign up for discounts, use shopping or banking apps, apply for a credit card, buy stocks, or read financial news, you’re actively adding to your digital footprint.
Social Media and Networking
Your social media presence, which includes activities like logging into your social accounts, using them to access other websites, connecting with friends, sharing content, or joining dating apps, plays a pivotal role in shaping your digital identity.
Web Browsing and IP Addresses
Your web browser, while enhancing your online experience, also contributes to your digital footprint. Unfortunately, your web browsing habits and IP address can be exploited for purposes that may not align with your best interests.
Tracking and Subscriptions
Various trackers, such as fitness trackers, reading trackers, time trackers, and subscriptions, actively monitor your online activities, expanding your digital footprint. Subscribing to newsletters, blogs, and vouchers adds another layer by revealing your preferences and habits to marketers.
Emails, Texts, and Online Forms
Your digital communications, including emails and texts, are essential components of your digital footprint. Moreover, the information you provide on online forms, whether related to shopping, loan applications, or service requests, is stored digitally and can be of interest to marketers.
Public Comments and Blog Posts
Opinions shared on message boards, social media, news websites, and opinion blogs, can significantly impact your reputation and credibility. Over time, modifying or removing public comments can become more challenging.
5 Ways to Check Your Digital Footprints
If you’re curious about your digital footprint and want to explore it further, you can follow these steps to gain insights into the information available about you online and effectively manage your digital presence.
Search engines
Start by entering your name into a search engine. Experiment with various formats, such as your full name, abbreviations, and any online nicknames you may use. Often, distinctive usernames or aliases can reveal more about your online identity than your real name. This process helps uncover public records, profiles, or posts linked to you.
Review social media
Search for your social media handle along with the platform’s name in a search engine to identify which posts are publicly visible. You can also check your own profiles to review past posts manually. To locate specific content, use search terms that include your handle, the platform, and relevant keywords.
Image search
Conduct a reverse image search using your photos to determine if any images of you have been shared on websites or platforms without your consent. This step extends beyond text results, assisting in identifying visual content that may be linked to your online identity.
Aggregator sites
Investigate aggregator websites like Google News, Feedly, or Flipboard, which compile and present information from various sources across the internet. These platforms may already showcase a summary of your online presence, highlighting content associated with your digital footprint.
Google Alerts
Create Google Alerts with your name or username to monitor new content that mentions you online. Whenever your name appears in newly published content, you’ll receive an alert, keeping you informed and allowing you to respond promptly if sensitive or unwanted information arises.
Tips to Protect Your Digital Footprints
While you can’t eliminate your entire digital footprint, you can take steps to protect it. Here are some best practices to help protect your online identity:
Avoid oversharing on social media websites and public forums. Do not share information that could be linked to you, like your home address, phone number, and date of birth unless necessary.
Delete any information you do not want social media services to store on their end if you’ve already provided it. Additionally, delete any accounts, posts, pictures, or videos you no longer want to be associated with.
Review the privacy settings for all your online accounts to limit the amount of data that is collected and shared.
Consider deleting accounts you are not using anymore.
When signing up for online services that need your personal information, use an alternate email address or a pseudonym.
When surfing online, use a private browser or a VPN to prevent third-party services from tracking your online activity.
Remove any data stored on your device regularly. Clear your browser history, cache, and cookies.
How to delete your digital footprint
Deleting your digital footprint is next to impossible because any activity you made online has traces of information linked to you already stored from third-party services, the government or other entities. You can, however, minimize your digital footprint and reduce what information is publicly available about you. Here's how:
Log in to your Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Twitter, Youtube, or any of the social media accounts you have a profile registered. Do this as well to your email accounts or any online account that stores your personal information.
Delete unnecessary information you do not want the website or service stored on their end. This includes your home address, phone number, and date of birth.
Delete posts, pictures or videos you no longer want to be associated with.
Consider deleting accounts you are not using anymore.
Review the privacy settings for all your online accounts. Limit the amount of data that is collected and shared.
Why is digital footprint important?
Your digital footprint entails several risks and consequences that can impact you in various ways:
Reputation Impact and Misunderstandings
Your digital actions are easily accessible to anyone. Information can spread widely, affecting your reputation. Additionally, things can get lost in translation online, leading to misunderstandings. Old photos, posts, or words can be taken out of context, potentially causing problems. For instance, a seemingly innocuous comment can be misconstrued, affecting your professional image.
Job and School Prospects and Employment Screening
Employers and educational institutions often check your online presence, conducting a digital background check. Your online behavior can influence whether you get a job or get into school. Moreover, your past online actions, even those from years ago, can significantly impact your job prospects, as employers increasingly consider your online history in their hiring decisions.
Credibility Matters
Your online behavior can affect how trustworthy people find you. Troubling aspects of your online history might lead to questions about your credibility.
Potential for Exploitation
Malicious actors can exploit your online presence through various social engineering tactics. They can use the information they gather from your digital footprint to craft convincing phishing attacks, manipulate your trust, or even engage in identity theft.
Data Breach and Cybersecurity Vulnerability
Fraudulent Activities
Threat actors can misuse your publicly available data for various crimes, such as applying for loans or credit cards in your name.
Embarrassment and Blackmail
Sensitive information from your online presence can be used to publicly embarrass you or as a tool for blackmail.
How Digital Footprints Impact Businesses
Digital footprints not only pose risks to individuals but can also significantly impact organizations. Employees who share too much online or overlook privacy settings might unintentionally reveal sensitive company information, rendering businesses susceptible to phishing, social engineering, or data breaches. An unmanaged digital trail can undermine corporate cybersecurity efforts.
Protect Your Company from Data Exposure Risks
To mitigate risks, companies must actively oversee digital footprints among their employees. Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture is crucial, operating under the principle that no user or device is automatically trusted. This approach helps minimize exposure by continuously verifying identity and access, reducing the likelihood of an employee’s online activities becoming an entry point for cyber threats.