“A digital footprint – sometimes called a digital shadow or an electronic footprint – refers to the trail of data you leave when using the internet. It includes websites you visit, emails you send, and information you submit online. A digital footprint can be used to track a person’s online activities and devices. Internet users create their digital footprint either actively or passively.”

I have learnt about digital footprint for a long time. We have all heard of the one friend who is good at tracking people through pictures on social media and other posts and basically finds anything about them… I was one of those people!

The realization that I and some friends were so good at doing that made me aware of how easy it could be for other people to find you. Continuously clearing my cookies and not accepting everything online should always be in our minds, “what am I really agreeing to in order to see this content?”

This is when I went through a long couple of days to delete myself from as many newsletters and go through the process of not just closing or suspending my account, but deleting my information as much as I could. I also constantly “clean” my social media friend’s list, eliminate anyone I am not close to and carefully add only people I trust. This way only people that I have added can google or find me.

I then realized I had given my email way too many times to retailers, websites, social media, etc. and now they had access to my email, then I gave my email and phone number somewhere else, and now they had access to that as well. The thing we do not realize is that data sets of our information can be sold by the people we provide our information to. We never sit and read the whole “Apple privacy contract”, they sell our activity to businesses and then flood us with advertisements that are targeted to us, then we are surprised they know us… spoiler alert! you permitted them to pry into your life.

Creating this website has been a challenge for me as I do not like to share too much online. But I overshare in person… However, not all digital footprints are bad either! Companies use their digital footprint so you can find them more easily. Posting a popular dance on TikTok can lead them to see your bio, then other social media platforms or websites that they can access to acquire your services or purchase your products.

We have to remember that footprints are left everywhere we go, in real life and digitally and we have to be careful what doors we open and what we access.

Here are some tips for you to be careful about what you portray with your digital footprint:
– Be careful about what you share, where you share it and with whom!
– Be smart about the sites you visit (fake ones are hard to spot! Learn the subtle differences), do not open emails that aren’t from someone you didn’t ask, and very importantly DO NOT click on links you receive!!

Here are some tips for your students to manage their digital footprint:

1. Be kind, helpful, and understanding
2. Use privacy settings
3. Keep a list of accounts you own – do not leave any open!
4. Don’t overshare! particularly in open websites or where strangers can access them
5. Use a password keeper (Apple or Google have safe encryption)
6. Google yourself – you can see what others can see!
7. Monitor linking accounts – facebook can link with Instagram and TikTok, etc. providing them with more information that you might want to give.
8. Consider using an anonymous secondary email.
9. At least skim the terms and conditions – key words such as “sale or will never sell” are important.
10. Know that sending is like publishing-forever – someone could keep that information as screenshots, etc.
11. Understand that searches are social – You could ask your students to google each other and see what they come up with.
12. Use digital tools to manage your digital footprint

Always tell your students about the consequences of online footprints. You might learn something you didn’t know yourself!

Reference is taken from the following website:
https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-digital-footprint