Digital Footprint
Digital Footprint is the data trail you leave while using the internet (Kaspersky, 2024). The data trails can be the websites you visit, the emails you send and information you provide online (Kaspersky, 2024). Digital footprint can be used to track a person’s online activities and devices (Kaspersky, 2024). A digital footprint can grow in a variety of ways, including posting on social media, subscribing to a newsletter, leaving an online review, and shopping online (Kaspersky, 2024). Sometimes it’s not obvious that you are leaving a digital footprint (Kaspersky, 2024). Accepting cookies on the websites can be dangerous as websites can monitor your activities and collect data without your knowledge and which result to digital footprint (Kaspersky, 2024). Example you can go and search sneakers on google and when you go your socials you will see advertisements of sneakers as they are recommending you based on your search at google. If you allow an organization to access your information may sell or share it with third parties (Kaspersky, 2024).
Your personal information may be compromised as a result of a data breach (Kaspersky, 2024). Digital footprints are important because they are relatively permanent and once the data is public the owner has little control over how others use it (Kaspersky, 2024). Content intended for a private group can spread to a wider audience which potentially jeopardizes relationships and friendships (Kaspersky, 2024). Cybercriminals can use your digital footprint for a variety of purposes, including phishing for account access and creating false identities using your information (Kaspersky, 2024). It is important to protect your digital footprint as employers, colleges and others do check up on your online identity before hiring you (Kaspersky, 2024).
Tips to protect your online reputation are to make use of search engines to check your digital footprint, limit the amount of data you share, double-check your privacy settings, avoid oversharing on social media, avoid unsafe websites, think before you post, use a virtual private network(VPN), don’t log in with Facebook, create strong passwords and use a password manager, delete old accounts and many more (Kaspersky, 2024).