What is a digital footprint and why does it matter?
By Allstate
Last updated: January 0001
Your digital footprint is a record of your online activities, showing where you've been on the internet and the data you’ve left behind. Your footprint grows when you deliberately share something online or when sites and apps track your activity with or without your permission. When your data falls into the wrong hands, you could be at risk of identity theft.
Imagine you’re walking on the beach. Each step you take leaves behind an impression. Do this every day, and your footprints start adding up. They don’t just show where you've been; they indicate where you’re heading.
Your digital footprint is like that beach: A record of your online activities showing the sites you’ve visited, accounts you’ve created, and companies collecting your data. Whenever you sign up, log in, or hit send, you’re leaving an impression behind.
Sadly, these types of footprints aren’t washed away by the tide.
What makes up your digital footprint?
Your digital footprint grows every day you’re online in active and passive ways.
Your active digital footprint contains information shared by choice like posting on social media, signing up for a newsletter, or leaving an online review.
Adversely, your passive digital footprint is also made up of information collected without your consent like an app collecting your data without your knowledge or permission a website tracking your activity by installing cookies on your device, or an organization selling or sharing your data with outside parties.
It’s not uncommon for a person to have hundreds of items appear in their digital footprint given the number of online touchpoints everyone uses daily from taking a morning run to scrolling social in bed.
Shopping
- Making purchases online
- Signing up for coupons or creating an account
- Registering for newsletters
- Downloading and using shopping apps
Financial
- Opening a credit card account
- Using a mobile banking app
- Buying or selling stocks
- Subscribing to financial publications and blogs
Health and fitness
- Registering your email address with a gym
- Subscribing to a health and fitness blog
- Receiving health care
- Using apps to track your activities and workouts
Reading and news
- Subscribing to an online news source
- Viewing articles on a news app
- Signing up for a publication’s newsletter
- Reposting articles and information you read
Social
- Using social media on your computer or devices
- Logging into sites with your social media credentials
- Connecting with friends
- Sharing information, data, and photos with your connections
- Joining a dating site or app
Checking your digital footprint
If your personal information falls into the wrong hands, it can be used to commit identity theft and fraud. And the more information that exists about you online, the bigger your digital footprint — which can put you at greater risk of identity theft.
Because everyone spends so much time online, it can be challenging to find every trace left behind.
You can start by searching your full name, email address, and other personal information on a search engine; this will give you an idea of what information is shared about you online. Additionally, you can set up Google Alerts to notify you of any changes or new information about you online.
You can also connect your email address to tools like Allstate Digital Footprint®, to see the online accounts associated with your email address and send privacy requests to companies
How to reduce your digital footprint
Be careful what you share online
One of the best ways to reduce your digital footprint is to limit what you share online. There are three types of “sharing'' to consider:
- Social sharing includes what you share on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. Adding your phone number, location, or email to your social profile, or "liking" your preferred financial institutions, healthcare providers, pharmacies, etc., can give cybercriminals insight into who you are — and make it easier for them to target you.
- Submissions include any online forms you might fill out. Every time you share your personal information with an organization, you expand your digital footprint — and increase the risk that your data could be misused or breached. So, think carefully before submitting an online form. If you’re prompted to fill out a form to unlock information or services, ask if there are other ways to get what you need.
- Social logins may seem convenient, but are not always completely secure. For example, when you "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Facebook", the data you have on these sites may then be transferred to the third-party site. Always log in directly to the main account or website that you are visiting.
Delete accounts you don't need
Most people would be surprised at how many open accounts they have. When you add them all up — banking, services, newsletters, stores, etc. — the final tally is often far more than expected.
One effective way to reduce your digital footprint is to close old accounts that you no longer need.
The important thing is to not just delete or turn off these accounts but to fully close them. For example, deleting an email newsletter is not the same as unsubscribing from it or deleting your account. Similarly, turning off notifications from a shopping site isn’t the same as closing your account.
You can usually do this by going to the account’s settings page; look for privacy and security settings.
Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), especially on public networks
Did you know that your IP address is recorded every time you visit a website?
While a hacker won’t know exactly who you are through your IP address alone, they can use it as a starting point to uncover more personal sensitive information about you.
For example, your IP address might reveal the country or city that you live in, bringing cybercriminals one step closer to tracking down your exact home address (which they can use to impersonate you and commit identity theft).
In addition, your IP address reveals a lot about your online activity — which could make it easier for hackers to target you with personalized phishing attempts or DoS (denial of service) attacks.
Educating kids on digital footprints
Monitoring your own digital footprint is one thing, but if you are a parent, you’ll need to talk to your children about the types of information they share online. As noted by the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA), parents should take a proactive approach when it comes to explaining the benefits and risks of the internet to their children.
Explain that social posts or digital communication (including sending emails, posting photos or videos, etc.) can easily be copied, making it impossible to remove them from the internet. Also educate them that any of these digital communications may be seen by unintended audiences, like other friends, classmates, family, or future prospects (schools, jobs, etc.).
Additionally, there are tools that you can use, as a parent, to limit what sites your children can share information on or access. The NCA notes that most internet service providers (ISPs) have tools to manage kids’ online experience.