Watch Your Digital Step

Something that everyone is starting to find out the hard way is that their digital footprint is real and probably needs to be managed if they have active social media. This seems to have especially impacted the new generation of young workers who, as young children, developed a digital footprint before they could make informed decisions concerning what is and is not ok to post online.

What is a digital footprint? A digital footprint is the cumulative set of traceable digital activities, actions, contributions, and communications created through the internet or digital devices. Your digital footprint is classified as either passive or active. Passive information is collected from users' browsing activity and active information refers to users' actively shared information such as social media posts. Usually, this is data that users leave online involuntarily and not necessarily with any sort of consent given. Entities such as businesses, organizations, and corporations also have digital footprints.

What can your digital footprint be used for? Well, targeted ads are probably one of the least harmful/impactful ways that your digital footprint can be used. That's right, corporations can place ads based on your browsing history. Your digital footprint can also be used by potential employers as part of their vetting process. Depending on what has been posted, the impact of a digital footprint can be either positive or negative. For example, it may be hard to find a corporate job or be a teacher if you have an active and/or popular adult content subscription service. However, it may be easier to land a job if you're actively connecting with people who are currently in the profession or if the skills needed for the industry are showcased.

How can you manage your digital footprint? There are little things that you can do, such as googling yourself to see what comes up when your name and information are searched. Depending on what is posted and where, you can probably contest it with the site and have the information removed. There are certain things, like public case records, that cannot be removed, but can be pushed further back in the search engine results, of course for a price. Protect as much of your personal data as you can: do not post your phone number, email (other than business email when needed), legal name, address, or any other identifying information. The less information that is public, the less there will be to find. The mindset of "if you don't want your job to see it, don't post it" goes a long way too with managing your digital footprint as well, because chances are potential employers will see it.

Have there been any major effects of the digital footprint? Yes, especially for corporations who buy or sell user information. It's far more difficult to have privacy in the digital age than it was prior, and short of never using the internet, there is not much anyone can do to avoid having a digital footprint.

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