Your Digital Footprint

What is a digital footprint?

Your ‘digital footprint’ includes all traces of your online activity.   This ranges from commenting on news pieces or liking social media posts to making online purchases. When you know the boundaries of your digital footprint, and take steps to control it, you can protect your identity and your reputation.

Consider the range

Security is no longer a one-machine issue.  You need to consider your online security across a variety of devices including PC’s, iPad’s and smartphones.

Manage your identity

Digital footprints don’t merely attract the interest of hackers or those out to steal your identity. They can also be traced by potential employers, schools, or creditors. Managing your identity clearly matters.

Passive vs. Active

One way to think about your digital footprints is to categorize them as either “active” or “passive.”

“Passive” footprints are those you leave behind without intending to do so. For instance, websites that collect information about how many times you have visited them are adding to your digital footprint in a “passive” fashion. You don’t choose to hand them this data; they collect it when a device at your IP address connects with their websites. Because this is a hidden process, you may not realise it is happening at all.

“Active” footprints, by contrast, are those you leave when you make deliberate choices on the Internet. Posts you make to your own social media channels are a well-known form of active footprint.

Both active and passive footprints can be tracked and observed in multiple ways and by multiple sources. When you take steps to control your digital footprint, you take steps not only to protect your own identity and reputation, but that of your family and friends as well.

Protect your digital footprint

1. Enter your name into several search engines.

Use multiple search engines to perform a search for your first and last name. If you’ve recently changed your name, look up both your prior name and your current one. Try the common misspellings as well. Review the first two pages of results. Are they positive? Do they show you in a professional and respectable light? If anything comes up that you don’t like, ask the site administrator to take it down.

2. Double-check your privacy settings

Privacy settings on social media allow you to control who sees your posts on your social media streams. Spend some time getting to know these settings so you can use them fully – for example, Facebook allows you not only to limit posts merely to “friends,” but also to make customised lists of people who can see certain posts.

3. Create strong, memorable passwords.

Any time you need a password, create one that uses a combination of words, numbers, symbols, and upper- and lowercase letters. Make it a password that is easy for you to remember, but would be hard for someone else to guess. Avoid the most popular combinations, like birthdates, anniversaries, or the names of your spouse, children, or pets.

4. Keep all your software up to date.

Many viruses and malware programs are specifically designed to “mine” your digital footprint, and they are constantly being updated. To help protect yourself, make sure that your antivirus software and your other software programs are up to date. Older software is more vulnerable to attack.

5. Review your mobile use

Set a password or lock pattern on your mobile device so that it cannot be accessed by other people if you accidentally lose or forget it. From time to time, review the apps on your phone or tablet. What are their privacy or information-sharing settings? If you don’t use an app anymore, delete it.

6. Build your reputation through your behaviour

Contribute to your positive, professional digital footprint by posting only those things that contribute to the image of you that you want your bosses, banks, or professors to see. Skip the negative tweets, “un-tag” yourself from questionable Facebook photos, and keep critical comments to yourself. Instead, build a positive reputation by starting a blog or website that showcases your work or a hobby about which you’re passionate.