Digital Footprints
A digital footprint is the data that’s left behind whenever you use a digital service (eg. an Oyster card), or whenever someone posts information about you onto a digital forum, such as a social network.
Having a digital footprint is normal – they’re very difficult to avoid. Given that your digital footprint can be publicly accessible, we recommend you know exactly what it looks like and how to actively manage it. This is a brief guide to help you do that.
Digital footprints are created in two ways: passively and actively.
A passive footprint is created when your data is collected, usually without you being aware of it. Common examples are search engines storing your search history whenever you’re logged in, and web servers logging your computer’s IP address when you visit a website.
An active digital footprint is created when you voluntarily share information online. Every time you send an email, publish a blog, sign up for a newsletter or post something on social media, you’re actively contributing to your digital footprint.
It’s not only you who can influence your digital trail. Your friends, family, colleagues, associates, and the clubs and societies you’re a member of can also add to it every time they mention you online.
Even people you don’t know can contribute to your digital footprint. For example, corporate and public sector bodies can add to it as well, when they list public information about you on the internet.
Do you know what your digital footprint looks like?
It could include information about you, your home and your work that others, including those with malicious intent, can easily gain access to. Make sure you know what it comprises.
Once something is shared online, it’s there forever – and what happens to this information may not always be under your control.
Social media channels, websites and apps are just some examples of online services that regularly change their privacy policies and security settings, making it difficult to keep track of what’s available for public consumption and what isn’t.
This means that the personal messages, information and data that we post online can end up being viewed by far more people than we ever intended.
And for those of us who work for organisations where our roles give us privileged access to sites, information or assets – be it organisational processes, systems, finances, research projects, technology, designs, equipment, materials, staff data, public data, intellectual property or intelligence – we need to be extra vigilant.
Our digital footprint may be of more interest to those with malicious intent. Criminals, violent protest groups, foreign intelligence services and terrorist groups can all benefit from gaining access to information about us, our work and who we associate with; and they can exploit that information to cause harm to us, our families, our organisation, our communities and the wider public.