Introduction to Digital Footprints

Every interaction between a person and the internet produces a digital footprint.

What is a digital footprint?

A digital footprint is defined as the information and electronic data records that are created and preserved as a by-product from every transaction of an individual, both online and offline. Such information is typically collected by data centers and are then used for online social research and tracking of engagements between humans and the digital world.

There are two types: passive and active.

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Passive digital footprint

It refers to traces of data that are involuntarily sent out by an individual through their interactions with different online infrastructures which then transmit their personal information.

Website visits

When a user visits a website, it can cause their IP address to be obtained by the website, allowing it to access their estimated location and internet service provider.

Search engines

Using a search engine could unintentionally transmit one's search history and preferences which are linked to their profile. The logs produced by these interactions also contain the content, source, and destination address of every data inputted within the search engine.

Mobile applications

Mobile applications that are downloaded to electronic devices also collect and store data from the user, which may be sent out to other devices and third-party applications.

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Active digital footprint

It refers to data that are shared purposely through self-reporting action.

Emails

Sending emails is a voluntary action that allows the user to share information with their receiver. The user is fully aware that the email may be viewed and saved by the receiver. Emails can stay up for many years if people choose to store them online.

Web login

In contrast to passively visiting a website, logging in would mean that one agrees to share their username and profile to the website and other users on it. Through this, all the engagements, transactions, and activities the person does within the website would be linked directly to them.

Social media posts

Social media accounts typically contain a person's username or profile that is visible to all unless they are set to private. Hence, with a public account, social media posts may be accessed and saved by anyone. Furthermore, these posts may also gather and store multiple other data of the account owner, such as their contact list, email address, and location records.

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References:

• Alhamami, F. M. A. (2020). Digital Footprints of University students (thesis). Flinders University, College of Science and Engineering, Adelaide.

• Al-zayat, R. (2016). Samsung Galaxy [Image]. Unsplash. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/w33-zg-dNL4.

• Spiske, M. (2018). Hacker binary attack code [Image]. Unsplash. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/iar-afB0QQw.

• Sürmelioğlu, Y., & Seferoğlu, S. S. (2019). An Examination of Digital Footprint Awareness and Digital Experiences of Higher Education Students. World Journal on Educational Technology: Current Issues, 11(1), 48–64. https://doi.org/10.18844/wjet.v11i1.4009

• Tengku Wook, T. S. M., Mohamed, H., Mat Noor, S. F., Muda, Z., & Zairon, I. Y. (2019). Awareness of Digital Footprint Management in the New Media Amongst Youth. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(3), 407–421. https://doi.org/10.17576/jkmjc-2019-3503-24

• The Neeva Team. (2022, March 24). Digital Footprint: What It Is and How to Protect It. Neeva. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://neeva.com/learn/digital-footprint-what-it-is-and-how-to-protect-it

• This is Engineering. (2020). Coding in social media [Image]. Unsplash. Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/zdBOU0faYK4.