Digital Footprints

A digital footprint is a trail of data you create while using the Internet. It includes the websites you visit, emails you send, and information you submit to online services.

Types Of Digital Footprints

Digital footprints can be classified into two broad categories — active and passive footprints — which depends on how your information is acquired.

• Active Digital Footprints
  Active digital footprints consist of the data you leave when you make deliberate choices on the internet. For instance, posts you make to your social media channels are a form of active footprint. When you are logged into a project management or similar site, changes you make that are connected to your login name are also part of your active footprint.

Here are a few examples of active digital footprints.

1. Posting on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
2. Filling out online forms, such as when signing up to receive emails or texts.
3. Agreeing to install cookies on your devices when prompted by the browser.

• Passive Digital Footprints
  Passive digital footprints are those you leave behind without intending to or, in some cases, without knowing it.

For instance, websites that collect information about how many times you’ve visited recently are adding to your digital footprint in a passive fashion. That’s because you don’t choose to give them this data. They collect it when a device at your IP address connects with their website. This is a hidden process, and you may not realize it is happening at all.

Here are three examples of passive digital footprints.

1. Websites that install cookies in your device without disclosing it to you.
2. Apps and websites that use geolocation to pinpoint your location.
3. Social media news channels and advertisers that use your likes, shares, and comments to profile you and to serve up advertisements based on your interests.

Both active and passive footprints can be tracked and observed in multiple ways and by multiple sources.