Written by Aranza Trevino
Edited by Anne Cutler
Reviewed by Darren Guccione
A digital footprint refers to the collection of traceable data left behind by a person’s unique online activities. Everything from your social media posts to your browsing history to your voter registration leave a trail of data that can be used by businesses and people for a variety of purposes – good or bad.
There are four main types of digital footprints:
Websites create a passive digital footprint for each user when they collect data about the user’s online activity. This includes website cookies, browsing history and shopping history. The user should know the data is being collected because they accepted the terms of using the website. However, it’s collected in the background, outside of the user’s visibility. There are varying levels of data collection that websites perform, so users should check the cookie policy before accepting.
Active digital footprints include data that the user knowingly posted on the internet. The user creates their active footprint deliberately, although not all users may understand just how many people can see their posts or how their data can be used. This includes social media posts, online article publications and public reviews.
A positive digital footprint is what it sounds like: the traceable data that builds your positive reputation online. Photos of you planting trees, posts about your professional wins or being listed as a board member of a community project are all part of your positive digital footprint. Everything that can be found about you online showcasing your best traits is part of your positive digital footprint.
Your negative digital footprint is just the opposite. What people find about you online can also negatively impact your reputation. “Negative” can depend on who your audience is – a political post, for example, could turn off a potential corporate employer but help you gain votes if you’re running for office. Thus, negative digital footprints are somewhat subjective.
Digital footprints are complex and multifaceted. Here are some examples of what’s a part of your footprint – whether it’s something that would be found if someone searched for your name online or if it’s data that has been collected about you.
Sometimes our digital footprints reveal more than we realize. Someone can use your writing patterns, connections, accounts and posts to put together a picture of your personality, habits and sensitive personal data. This can lead to identity theft and other cybercrime.
Your digital footprint affects many aspects of your life. Being wise about your active footprint and securing your passive footprint can protect both your reputation and privacy. Some things your digital footprint can impact include:
Employers often look up job candidates to check if their online persona is professional. Hateful comments, inappropriate photos, political opinions and other information could affect an employer’s decision to hire someone. Different industries have different expectations for employees’ online presence, so get to know the norms in the industry you wish to work in. In some industries, a strong online presence where you post frequently about your perspective is preferred. In others, employers expect you to stay as private and neutral online as possible.
Do you find yourself relying on others’ posts to determine what their personality is like? Keep in mind that anyone can Google us – if there’s anything on the internet that would embarrass you with a new friend or colleague, consider deleting it.
Your personal safety can be affected by information posted online. For example, giving details about your location could help criminals find you. Posting about expensive items could motivate someone to rob your home. Accessing online servers without a VPN could allow people to pinpoint your location using your IP address. Writing or speaking about your opinions publicly is an important expression of speech for many, but doing so can also prompt people online to dox you, so it’s important to lock down your digital footprint to prevent this – especially if you have a large audience or you anticipate people will be angry about what you say. Robust digital footprints can enable stalkers and other types of potentially violent criminals.
Sharing personal details online could make it easier to be targeted. Some targeters have fairly harmless reasons – like personalized ads – but the data they’ve collected about you could make you vulnerable to cyberattacks if they ever experience a breach. Cybercriminals can use anything they find about you to help stage an attack – for example, if your phone number is listed publicly, they could target you with a SIM swapping attack. They might also try to guess your passwords to sensitive accounts if they know the names of your loved ones and pets, along with their birthdays. If you’ve accidentally allowed your digital footprint to be too detailed, it can help cybercriminals steal your identity.
To check your digital footprint, you can:
No, it’s challenging to completely delete your digital footprint. But you can take steps to clean it up and minimize it. There are also laws to protect people whose digital footprints make them extra vulnerable – for example, in some states, victims of domestic violence can ask to have their voter registration kept private.
We’ve written before about how to clean up your digital footprint. Here are some of the most important steps you can take:
Protecting your digital footprint is more than a one-time clean-up. You need to keep up cyber hygiene habits to continuously monitor and manage what people and businesses can find about you online.
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