Digital footprints

Digital technology has changed how we bank, travel, shop and communicate. But it can also be misused, so we must use it wisely.

Whenever we use the Internet, we leave a trail of data behind: our digital footprint. It includes the websites we visit, the emails we send, the information we submit, our IP address, our location, and details of our device.

There are two kinds:

• Active footprint: data we submit on purpose: emails, posts, comments, form responses.
• Passive footprint: data we leave without meaning to: generated when we visit websites, use apps or simply browse.

Our browser stores some of it: history, cookies, saved passwords and auto-fill data. But most of our footprint is stored on the servers of the websites and apps we use, where we cannot delete it. Even a deleted post may have been copied or saved elsewhere.

Footprints can be used to show us targeted advertisements, can be misused, or can be used to trace us. Once created, they may never be fully removed. So be careful what you write, upload or browse: everything online leaves a trace.