four reasons to care about your digital footprint what is a digital footprint we're used to looking at all kinds of information on the internet but the internet it seems is looking back at us when we visit websites to get information do social sharing send instant messages and email we leave something behind our digital Footprints are the traces We Leave Behind as we use the internet digital Footprints have both benefits and costs for instance they may offer convenience by Saving time logging in or retyping your personal details the tradeoffs well that's what the internet society's digital
footprint tutorials are about most of us realize that when we consciously share information on social media or upload pictures we lose some degree of privacy but we are less likely to think about the footprints we create by default simply by searching the web shopping online or enabling location services and as the saying goes out of sight out of mind it's hard to manage something you've never seen it's not uncommon for people to say I have nothing to hide so why should I care about my digital Footprints there are many reasons some of which we'll explore
in a moment but the simplest one is this your digital Footprints reveal a lot about you they build up into a detailed picture of your likes and habits and that information has commercial value our digital Footprints are monetized by organizations with which we have no relationship and which we can't control few internet users realize how intimate their digital Footprints are or how commonly the resulting data is shared by Third parties one online security company has identified more than 200 third-party advertisers and 630 tracking Technologies collecting individuals data on the web are you logged into Facebook
Twitter or Google right now if so they're tracking your visits to any web page with a like tweet or plus one button whether or not you click on that button every site you visit gives the more information to store and commercialize there's an implicit bargain there but who's getting the best of it now let's look at some of the other reasons your digital Footprints matter while the reasons will differ depending on you your country and your culture they will probably fall into one of four categories protecting your reputation maintaining your ability to decide where and
how your personal information is shared preventing Financial loss preserving your freedom protecting your reputation even if you have nothing to hide not everything about you is appropriate to every audience for all time your digital Footprints can be taken out of context and Mis interpretive if you search online for appeal against speeding fine a third party could assume your search related directly to your own situation whether or not that is the case if you use a credit or debit card to pay the bar bill for a group of friends and later use a card to cover
your parking costs it could create the impression that you drive after drinking even if you were the designated driver for the evening and is a third party really entitled to see that data or to draw those conclusions reputation is a social interpersonal judgment tempered by forgiveness and forgetfulness you can't rely on the internet for any of those deciding where and how your personal information is shared everyone has information that they only want to share in specific contexts you may share medical information with family but not necessarily your boss in some countries it may be important
that your religious beliefs are known only to a few there are probably circumstances under which you're comfortable sharing personal information with organizations through the internet but wouldn't want that same data spread around with today's tracking mechanisms most internet users don't have the control to prevent that kind of spread there's no easy way on the internet to say no to most forms of tracking and certainly no way to say you can share this but not that commercial tracking aside there's also the law enforcement aspect Microsoft Google Twitter Facebook and Yahoo have all released user data to
governments on demand and there is growing concern about the number of apps that leak users personal data online services can greatly reduce subscribers ability to control their own information preventing Financial loss identity theft is a global issue as digital Footprints are aggregated into larger databases digital thieves can obtain data about tremendous numbers of people facilitating identity related crime user authentication systems add detail to of these databases for example what was your first pet's name which we might already have disclosed in some other context without thinking about it when such an aggregation of data is hacked
it's all the easier for criminals to impersonate others for financial gain or other purposes even other people's digital Footprints can affect your creditworthiness one returning honeymooner found that his credit limit had been lowered from about 11,000 to 4,000 the credit card company explained that other customers who use their card at establishments where you recently sh op have a poor repayment history based on similar kinds of data and inference financial services company could steer you to credit card offers with higher interest rates and lower credit limits an insurer could deny you coverage or charge you more
for it based on your digital Footprints maintaining your freedom your digital Footprints can also affect your freedom to express yourself and in some places even your Liberty and well-being many governments routinely track social media sites instant messaging services and chat rooms and some May arrest people for political statements made in these venues surveillance software may be used to intercept Communications to and from Human Rights activists and this has resulted in cases of arrest and torture recently some mobile phone users in Kiev received a text message saying dear subscriber you have been registered as a participant
in a mass Riot based on the location of their handsets not necessarily on whether they were there or what they were doing law enforcement action based on this kind of inference comes with a high risk of error and Injustice there are softer forms of Freedom too you may find your freedom to access information limited based on assumptions about where you are again using data from your digital footprints that may or may not be reliable imagine for a moment that based on your online activities your reputation was tarnished your intimate details were broadcast to the world
you were defrauded or even that you were arrested and jailed anyone of those outcomes could be devastating but the more of Our Lives we conduct online the more exposed we are to the these kinds of risk how do people feel about that research in India found that 40% of those surveyed said they shop online using unsecured Wi-Fi networks and about 20% share passwords with others on the other hand in a Malaysian survey 86% said they are concerned that mobile apps might be collecting personal information without their permission and more than half of those with concerns
state that they limit their use of apps among readers of the Wall Street Journal 60% Express concern about the loss of online privacy and the figure is almost 70% for us consumers as a whole people's perception of the risks clearly varies greatly but we think it's vital to understand how your digital Footprints relate to your privacy and safety and what you can do about it for tutorials and suggestions about how to manage your digital Footprints visit interneto click on how can I manage my digital Footprints explore the other links on that page for background information
and practical tips e
