What Is A Digital Footprint?

Footprints used to be harmless, physical notions. Running barefoot across the sand and leaving a meandering trail of where we had been seconds before. Or that less harmless muddy footprint you left on the new cream carpet … Today, as with so much else in our lives, our footprints are now digital. A digital footprint is the amalgamation of everything we leave behind when we’re online. You may not have noticed but your footprint has probably already led to targeting marketing. Remember that Facebook advert from a few weeks ago, depicting the exact t-shirt design you’d been browsing the day before but at a discounted price? Yeah, that happened thanks to a new trend in tailored digital marketing. But is it a bad thing?

First off, let’s analyse what your digital footprint is made of. Instead of five toes, the ball, sole and heel, your digital foot looks more like this:

• Social media comments/likes/etc. – and this goes for the content of Facebook Messenger and Twitter IMs too.
• App usage
• Emails and attachments
• Uploads/downloads
•  Skype/FaceTime calls
• Credit/Debit card usage
• Websites visited (tip: clear your browser history regularly)
• Online shopping purchases (and browsing habits)
• GPS systems

Don’t worry, there’s not a gremlin living in your computer or phone. This information is tracked by things called ‘cookies’. You may have seen a little popup notifying you that a site is using such a tool but dismissed it as unimportant technological jargon, albeit tasty sounding jargon. Well, this what they do. They track your movements across the web to allow for targeted digital marketing, in the form of tailor-made adverts just for you. The use, however, doesn’t stop there.

There has been a lot of hype in the media recently about the invasion of privacy upon which digital marketing relies. Consumers believe their personal information is being shared too easily with businesses, advertisers and law enforcement and that any sense of privacy has evaporated. There have also been issues arising when job applicants have been turned down for a positon they are highly qualified for because their prospective employer searched their Facebook photos and came across an unsavoury one or a university admissions officer discovered offensive posts. There is nowhere to hide when it comes to your digital footprint and most of us don’t even realise we’re leaving one.

Digital footprints aren’t all bad: they save us time by remembering our passwords, they remember what we’ve done and make searching for similar subjects easier, they help detect fraudulent activity and personalise our overall use of the web. But our digital footprints also have commercial value and we need to be aware of that.

But your digital footprint can be used to your advantage – just remember to post, share and comment on social media platforms in a responsible, respectful way. If you’re applying for a job or university, be aware that decision makers may search for you on Facebook to ensure they like what they see and your CV claims are backed up. You can portray a positive image of yourself this way and turn your digital footprint into a force for good.