The Invisible Trail: How Online Activity Leaves a Digital Footprint
For the sake of convenience, it makes sense for the websites we visit to remember who we are, and what we’ve been doing. This is what allows you to log into your favorite online store without having to re-authenticate yourself every time.
This is achieved through special tokens, known as cookies, which your browser will store on your device in order to provide personalized experiences. This is just one kind of tracking, and one kind of digital footprint left, often unwittingly, by internet users.
What a digital footprint actually is
When you use the internet, it’s easy to leave a trail that others can follow, in order to gather information about who you are. You might create a record every time you connect to a given website, or input a query into a search engine. If you post under your real name, then obviously you’ll leave a lasting trace of your activity – but even if you don’t you risk compromising your privacy.
It’s worth distinguishing between two kinds of digital footprint. There are passive ones, which typically involve you being tracked via cookies, and there are active ones, which require that you actually take action.
How online activity is tracked
Cookies aren’t the only means of figuring out who you are online. The services you connect to might also seek to fingerprint your device, by looking at the technical details like screen resolution, operating system, graphics driver, and installed fonts. They might also log your IP address. By understanding who you are, every time you connect, online actors can develop an understanding of your preferences which can be used by advertisers to target you more effectively.
Reducing your digital footprint
If you want to reduce your digital footprint, then there are a number of strategies you can adopt. You might use a VPN to route your traffic through an encrypted server, often in a different country. The Tor browser is another excellent tool, based on a global network of servers. By routing your traffic in this way, you can make it very difficult (though not impossible) to determine who actually made a given request.
What most people overlook
Even if you clear all of your cookies and use a special browser, you might neglect to remove other kinds of fingerprints. These are typically associated with the apps and services you use, and the way that you use them. Review your permissions and make sure that you’re not granting any particular application more privileges than it needs. Be cautious about which social media services you use, and the way that you use them.
Building better digital habits
The way that you behave online arguably matters than any software you install. Be aware of the services you’re connecting to. Make sure that you’re not taken in by fake forms and phishing. Develop good habits, and maintain them, and the risk you face will be considerably reduced.
