Digital Footprints

What is a Digital Footprint?

Every time you search for something online, book a ticket, reply to an email, or check a game score, you leave behind a trail of data. This trail — the record of all your online activities — is called your digital footprint. It is created whether you know it or not, and it can be used with or without your consent.

Your digital footprint includes obvious things like the websites you visit, the emails you send, and the information you submit in forms. But it also includes hidden details: your computer’s IP address, your physical location, and other device-specific information. All of this data can be collected and used for purposes like targeted advertising — or it can be misused or exploited.

The key point is that once you are online, you are leaving a trace. Being aware of this helps you become cautious about what you write, upload, download, or even browse.

Two Types of Digital Footprints

The book classifies digital footprints into two kinds:

• Active digital footprints — data you intentionally submit online. Examples: writing an email, posting a comment on a website, filling out a form in a mobile app, or uploading a photo.
• Passive digital footprints — data you leave unintentionally, without actively providing it. Examples: the data generated when you simply visit a website, use a mobile app, or browse the Internet. Your browser, the website’s server, and your device all record this information automatically.

Where Digital Footprints Are Stored

Your digital footprint is stored in two main places:

1. On your own device — in your browser’s settings. You can check your browser to see stored browsing history, cookies, passwords, auto-fill data, and many other types of records.
2. On remote servers — where the websites and apps you use are hosted. Most of your digital footprint is stored here, and you usually have no access to remove or erase that data. You also have no control over how that data will be used.

Why Digital Footprints Are Hard to Erase

Once a data trail is generated, even if you later try to delete information about your online activities, the digital footprints still remain. There is no guarantee that digital footprints will ever be fully eliminated from the Internet. This is why the book stresses that we need to be more cautious while being online.

What Can Be Traced …