What is a Digital Footprint?

With so much personal information being collected about us as we browse, socialize, stream and shop online, our growing data trails have become a major cyber security topic.

If you use the internet regularly, you will no doubt have already created a notable digital footprint. But why do digital footprints actually matter, what are the different types, and how can you protect your information?

Unlike regular footprints, which fade and disappear over time (obviously!), digital footprints are a whole different beast; they can contain some rather revealing information, and prove very difficult to permanently remove from the internet.

The term digital footprint (or electronic footprint/digital shadow), essentially refers to a person’s unique data trail online. Anyone who uses the internet, be it a casual user, business or organization, will usually leave behind some kind of trail resulting from their various activities.

Almost every action taken online, including searching for products, general browsing, newsletter subscribing, writing reviews and sending emails, will create some form of data trail.

Websites and apps often collect our data directly (for instance, when we post on social media and complete online forms), and also indirectly (for instance, when sites use tracking cookies to collate our activity, behaviour and preferences to build unique visitor profiles).

The five key types of digital footprints are as follows:

Active Footprint: This refers to more ‘intentionally’ created and shared data, which would typically include personal information entered into online forms, and anything shared via social media posts and forums
Passive Digital Footprint: A much more subtle form, here data is created without your direct involvement, and sometimes knowledge; while legitimate sites/apps usually ask for permission to allow passive data creation (using cookies and tracking technologies), their purposes for doing so, along with the implications for users, can seem murky and perplexing
Commercial Digital Footprint: Data collected by ecommerce sites/apps; this information typically relates to user behaviour, including site visit/page counts, likes, comments, shares, location and IP address, with user profiles often being sold to marketing firms that produce targeted advertising campaigns by analyzing the data
Public Digital Footprint: Any data that is publicly accessible to everyday internet users (often by simply searching or browsing), including content like social media posts, job recruitment profiles, images and video streams
Private Digital Footprint: Data intended to be accessible by a certain individual or group only, such as content within messaging app chats and member-only social media groups which require admin approval

Importance of Digital Footprints

Are digital footprints really all that important? Let’s explore several key ways that they matter, including how they could influence your career and social opportunities:

Digital Reputation & Credibility: It’s no longer just celebrities and politicians who are being scrutinized and judged; everyday social media users’ comments, beliefs and interests can now determine how they’re viewed by the world – even if they’ve forgotten about and no longer believe the things they posted!
Employment & Vetting Checks: Once an employer has read your CV, they may decide to Google your name to see what crops up; furthermore, the government, security agencies, and the police, along with universities and other educational institutions, could do the same
Misreading Who You Are: Since you won’t be in the room to explain your digital footprint, you won’t be able to settle any misconceptions or doubts people may have; this could put your reputation at risk, leading to various avoidable consequences (for instance, rejected job applications and social/workplace rumours)
The Permanent Deletion Myth: Be careful what you post online, as it’s widely believed that some traces of data (stored on platforms’ backup servers, for instance) may always exist; moreover, there’s always a risk that content intended to be private (like messages and photos in chat groups), could be stolen by hackers or accidentally shared to third parties by approved users
Publicly Accessible by Anyone: Unlike real-life footprints (our ‘offline’ reputations that require close proximity and intimate real-life networking), our digital footprints are essentially available to anyone with basic access to an internet-connected device and Google
Digital Footprints Can Be Exploited: The information gleaned from digital footprints can be priceless in the hands of scammers, and even some ecommerce sites, apps and marketers with ‘ethically grey’ data privacy policies; for instance, cyber criminals may harvest as much data as they can in order to launch spear phishing attacks and commit identity theft, whereas online stores may leverage your passive digital footprint to sell it to marketers who create targeted advertising campaigns

Examples of Digital Footprints

Here are some of the most common ways digital footprints are created – and continually added to – when people use the internet for their various daily tasks and activities:

Browsers: The web browser you use to surf the internet exchanges various types of information with websites; usually in order to deliver a more functional, personalized experience, but also to build profiles based on your unique browsing behaviours (by collecting data like your location, IP address and website navigation)
Social Media: Social media giants, such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, can contribute greatly toward your digital footprint, with posts, shares, likes, friendship requests and uploads, etc, expanding your footprint with every new interaction you make
Online Banking: Given the tight security measures and checks of financial institutions, it should come as no surprise that their apps grow your digital footprint; for instance, when you use mobile banking apps, apply for accounts/credit cards, and buy/sell stocks and crypto
Online Shopping: Most mainstream ecommerce websites and apps – like online stores and marketplaces – will contribute to your digital footprint by recording your personal information (name, address, contact details, etc) and unique shopping habits and preferences
Other Examples: Subscriptions to newsletters, blogs and news apps; general emails and texts (SMS, WhatsApp, etc); health trackers (which track your location for exercise like running and cycling); online form-filling; and forum comments/blog posts (with divisive/misleading content)

How to Check Your Digital Footprint

In order to better manage your digital footprint, you need to firstly understand what your data trail contains. Here are several actionable steps you can take to achieve this:

List All Your Accounts: While the personal information within your various online accounts (like your name, address and contact details) is password-protected, nothing is un-hackable; if some of your accounts have been inactive for years, it may be wise to delete them (as this will reduce your footprint’s overall size, meaning there’s less data for hackers to find, steal and exploit)
Search for Yourself: Cyber criminals, businesses, organizations and curious acquaintances can use search engines to quickly ‘learn’ about people; Google yourself (full name, social media handles, etc), noting anything harmful to your reputation (like incorrect/false/misleading information); should you find anything, request its removal by contacting the host site’s administrator, or manually remove/modify it yourself
Set Up Keyword Alerts: Going forward, a great way to save time searching for yourself is to set up keyword alerts (using platforms like Google, Chrome and Bing) which can notify you of fresh publicly available content
Search for Photos & Videos: Media can be particularly damaging to your reputation, especially unflattering/divisive photos and videos; conduct an image search (full name, social media handles, etc) or reverse image search using platforms like Google; as above, remove anything you don’t like, either manually or by getting in touch with the host site’s administrator
Scrutinize Your Social Media: As people change over time, the nature and tone of their social media content can also; conduct a search (social media handle + platform) using popular search engines to see what turns up, noting anything that needs to be modified/deleted; be sure to also manually scroll through your platforms’ posting histories as this will allow you to fully digest exactly what you’ve been sharing

Negative Impact of Digital Footprints

Digital footprints can enhance your online world in various ways; for instance, they can allow marketplaces to create more personalized shopping experiences, and streaming services to remember what episode you’re currently on.

Another perk is that you can use certain online platforms to create a tailored, future-ready digital footprint to help impress people (like colleges and employers, etc, whose screening process may include some online digging).

On the flipside, a digital footprint can certainly have negative consequences – especially when it’s forgotten and left unchecked for too long. Here are several ways that digital footprints can cause unwanted harm:

Cyber Security Risks: If enough personal data is collected (from publicly available info or data breach troves), cyber criminals could exploit it for nefarious purposes; for instance, they could use it for brute force attacks (like dictionary attacks) to crack your account logins, to target you with phishing scams, or commit identity theft by applying for loans and credit cards
Skader på omdømmet: Any data that could be considered negative or misleading, including social media posts, comments and images, could threaten your good name and social status, with real-world implications for your ambitions and personal/work-based relationships
Screening & Snooping: Given how many employers and organizations now perform screening practises, any negative data found could harm your prospects, leading to job and college placement rejections; it’s also worth considering that someone unexpected, like a workplace rival, could dig up your old, forgotten content, with the goal to dirty your name/blackmail you

How to Delete Your Digital Footprint

You could, theoretically, delete your entire digital footprint to maximize the protection of your data – however, since most of us rely on internet-connected devices, websites and apps for day-to-day living, this probably isn’t very realistic.

Instead, you could consider doing a bit of digital footprint spring cleaning. For instance, you could search your name (via social media platforms and Google) for any content relating to you; should you find anything ‘questionable’, you can modify/delete it yourself, or request a site administrator to.

Note: When it comes to the reality of digital footprint removal, it’s important to understand that it’s incredibly difficult to achieve permanent deletion (the scrubbing of every single trace of data out there on the internet).

This is because, no matter how much active and passive content you delete, platforms and their marketing partners may still have copies on their servers. You’ve also got to throw in the fact that someone may have already taken screenshots of some of your publicly available content prior to deletion.

How to Protect Your Digital Footprint

With our daily lives becoming increasingly internet-tethered, it’s easy to lose sight of our growing digital footprints and the various ways they can be exploited by cyber criminals. Here are several steps you can take to protect yours:

Brug AntiVirus-software: Ensure that you protect your internet-connected devices from the very latest threats with an industry-leading cyber security provider; AntiVirus apps, such as the Award-Winning TotalAV og Total WebShield, can run automated, real-time scans to detect hidden, data-stealing malware, and also alert you to blacklisted websites and phishing scams
Use Search Engines & Alerts: Keep an eye on any publicly available content that crops up in search engines, like Google and Bing, by conducting searches and creating keyword alerts (for your name and handles, etc)
Request Content Removal: Should a search/alert highlight something you don’t like, contact the website’s administrator with a removal request (while nothing’s guaranteed, a polite approach tends to yield better results)
Only Share What’s Necessary: While online privacy settings can be toggled to better protect what you share (on sites, social media, chat apps), complete privacy is never guaranteed; try to avoid ‘oversharing’ personal info, media and divisive/misleading comments you may later regret; high-profile data breaches do happen, and there’s no controlling how platforms/users will handle your data
Avoid Suspicious Websites: Never engage with websites, apps or people that strike you as suspicious; if anything feels ‘off’ about a site, such as the checkout having an unsecured connection (‘http’ instead of ‘https’), it’s likely a spoof site designed to steal sensitive data
Hold softwaren opdateret: Keeping the software on your internet-connected devices up to date is a fundamental aspect of cyber security; the latest security patches can help to shield your operating systems and apps from bad actors and their data-scraping malware
Clear Cookies: Don’t forget to clear/manage your web browser cookies to prevent certain websites from overstepping with invasive tracking technologies that can compromise your privacy; inside most browsers: ‘Settings’ > ‘Privacy & Security’
Turn Off Location Tracking: Unless it’s necessary to share your location (for tagging and checking in, etc), consider disabling your location tracking settings as frequent location data could lead to your daily routines being monitored by apps, scammers and even stalkers
Opret stærke adgangskoder: Aim to create strong, unique passwords for your online accounts (at least 12 characters long, the more random/complex the better) to bolster the protection of your personal data against hackers
Aktivér to-faktor-autentificering: A strong, unique password marries well with 2FA, which will require for an extra verification step to be completed (like a passcode sent to your email/phone) when accessing your account
Use a Password Manager: Password managers, such as Samlet adgangskode, can optimize the account login process whilst bolstering digital footprint security; these innovative tools can create strong passwords for you, securely store them inside an encrypted vault, and provide one-click logins, making password amnesia a frustration of the past
Review Privacy Settings: Platforms like social media (Facebook, TikTok, Instragram) allow you to manage various privacy settings; for instance, to prevent strangers from snooping, you can limit posts to only be seen by your accepted friends, or even a customized friend list
Create a Mobile Passcode: Since mobile loss and theft does happen, it’s wise to setup a passcode (or finger/face ID lock) to prevent strangers from accessing your phone’s contents, which may include sensitive data within apps, messages, notes and work-related emails
Review Mobile App Permissions: For greater control over your data privacy, take a moment to read what kind of permissions a mobile app is requesting (like camera, photos, location access, etc); many apps will tend to work just fine with only minimal permissions, so don’t be afraid to be discerning with requests
Act After a Data Breach: If a data breach strikes a company you have an online account with, make it a priority to change your password and check for signs of foul play (such as orders you don’t recognize, account changes, and other unauthorized/suspicious activity)
Delete Old Accounts: It’s advisable to keep on top of your various online accounts as each one widens your digital footprint; consider deleting dormant accounts to reduce the risk of your personal info being exposed by hacks, data breaches and misuse
Beware Account Linking: While it may seem more convenient to use account linking (signing in to platforms using third party account credentials like Facebook and Google), you may wind up permitting platforms to unnecessarily mine more of your personal information
Avoid Sharing Data Over Public WiFi: Since public WiFi hotspots (in places like airports and coffee shops) have a reputation for being notoriously risky, it’s often best to avoid them altogether; unless you’re using a VPN app, nearby hackers could be capable of intercepting unencrypted traffic containing your sensitive data
Use a VPN App: Ensure that your internet connection, at home and on-the-move, always remains secure (even over public WiFi) by using a VPN; leading providers like VPN i alt can mask your IP address and traffic (protecting your data from hackers and snoopers) and also unlock previously unavailable geo-restricted content (like movies and shows on streaming services)

What is a Digital Footprint? Types & How to Protect Yours