With the proliferation of digital tools, from social media to online banking, more and more personal information is available online.
While this can make life easier in many ways, hackers or other malicious actors can access our data without authorization. This makes protecting your digital footprint essential — not just for keeping out unwanted intruders but also for ensuring that you’re putting your best foot forward when employers and others are researching you on the web.
In this post, we’ll walk through a few simple steps you can take to clean up your digital footprint and protect yourself against privacy risks.
What is a Digital Footprint
A digital footprint is the online trace individuals leave behind as they interact and navigate the internet. This includes photos, videos, comments on social media, reviews of products and services, websites visited, shopping habits, and more. Your digital footprint can influence your brand or how you are perceived by colleagues, employers, and potential customers.
Ways To Clean Up Your Digital Footprint
Google yourself
Cleaning up your digital footprint is important to protect yourself and your information online. Googling yourself can help you gain insight into what others may find when researching you on the web—which can be invaluable in helping to clean up your digital presence.
When conducting a self-search, use multiple search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo! as results will vary depending on the engine used. Start by searching for variations of your name or any nicknames you’ve ever gone by. This will provide a comprehensive look at what comes up when someone searches for you online.
In addition to searching for personal information, it’s also important to take notice of reviews, blog posts, images, and other content that includes your name. If you find inaccurate or outdated information, consider contacting the website hosting the content and asking for it to be updated or removed—contact information is usually found in a website’s “About Us” section.
By conducting a self-search and making adjustments where necessary, you can take steps toward improving your digital footprint. This will help ensure that any employers or contacts researching you online are seeing accurate and up-to-date information about who you are as an individual.
Delete Old Accounts
Deleting old, unused accounts is important in cleaning up your digital footprint. This includes online banking accounts, social media profiles, and other websites you may no longer use or need. You can reduce your data’s vulnerable places by eliminating these extra accounts.
When deleting an account, it’s important to ensure all information has been removed from the website before officially closing it down. If possible, download a copy of your account activity so you have a record of what was contained within it.
It would help if you noted any apps with access to the account and revoked their permissions to ensure they can no longer access your data.
Finally, suppose you’re closing an account that contains financial information. In that case, it’s wise to contact your bank or credit card company to ensure that all activity associated with the account is terminated and no further charges will be made.
Deleting old accounts can help protect your data from hackers or malicious actors. In addition, deleting outdated accounts ensures that those researching you online only see relevant information about who you are as an individual.
Update Your Privacy Settings
Updating your online privacy settings is important to protecting your digital footprint. Start by evaluating the level of security for each website you frequent and familiarizing yourself with any available privacy settings.
Most websites have a “Privacy Settings” page where you can adjust who has access to your data, what information they are privy to, and how often you receive notifications related to their activity.
It would help to ensure that any passwords associated with these accounts are secure. This includes changing them regularly or using two-factor authentication when available.
It’s also essential to audit which apps directly access your accounts, such as those connected through social media sites like Facebook or other online services. These could include shopping, fitness, and gaming apps. To begin the audit process, visit each site’s “Settings” page and review which apps can access your data.
Finally, check the default settings for any new accounts you create. These are often set to public by default; if you want more privacy or don’t recognize an application with access, adjust these accordingly.
Regularly updating your online privacy settings can better protect your data from potential hackers and malicious actors. This step will also help ensure that those researching you online only see relevant information about who you are as an individual.
Don’t Share Personal Information On Social Media
It’s important to remember that what you post online can follow you for a long time. It can be seen by potential employers, contacts, and even strangers.
To protect yourself from unwanted attention, you must refrain from sharing personal information on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. This includes your address, phone number, email address, financial information, or other sensitive details about yourself.
When posting online, it’s also wise to think twice before sharing photos or videos of yourself. Even if they don’t contain sensitive information, they can still send the wrong message to employers or contacts who may view them.
Finally, when using social media sites like LinkedIn or Facebook for professional purposes, remember that these are still public platforms. Anything you post on these sites should reflect a professional image and uphold the standards of your profession.
Keeping personal information off social media can help protect your digital footprint from potential intruders or malicious actors. In addition, it will ensure that those researching you online only see relevant information about who you are as an individual. These precautions are essential for maintaining a positive online presence and securing data.
Get a password manager
A password manager is an essential tool for protecting your digital footprint. A password manager stores all your passwords in one secure location and creates strong, unique passwords that are difficult for hackers to guess.
It also stores form data like credit card numbers and addresses, meaning you don’t have to manually enter this information every time you purchase online. This helps reduce the chances of someone accessing sensitive information associated with your accounts.
In addition, most password managers offer additional features such as two-factor authentication and auto-lockout after a certain period. This help protect your data by requiring multiple forms of identity verification before granting access and automatically logging out if left idle for too long.
Using a password manager will help ensure that your personal and financial information is safe from unwanted intruders. It also helps you maintain a clean digital footprint by ensuring that all passwords associated with your accounts are secure and up-to-date.
Setting up a password manager is important in protecting your data and maintaining control of your digital presence.
It’s also important to regularly update the password manager when creating new accounts or changing existing passwords. Doing so will help reduce the chances of someone gaining access to sensitive information associated with your accounts.
With strong, unique passwords and multiple layers of security, using a password manager can go a long way toward keeping your data safe from potential hackers or malicious actors online.
FAQs
Can digital footprints see deleted search history?
No, deleted search history cannot be seen by digital footprint. However, your public data or posts may still be visible online.
How can I hide my digital footprint?
You can hide your digital footprint by deleting old accounts and updating your privacy settings on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. It would help if you ensured that any passwords associated with these accounts are secure and refrain from sharing personal information online. Finally, using a password manager is important in protecting your data and maintaining control of your digital presence.
What does it mean to clean up your digital footprint?
Cleaning up your digital footprint means removing outdated accounts or posts that could give potential employers or contacts the wrong impression about you.
What will cause a bad digital footprint?
A bad digital footprint can be caused by posting inappropriate content online, using unsecure passwords, or failing to update your privacy settings on social media sites. Additionally, sharing personal information such as your address, phone number, email address, financial information, or other sensitive details about yourself can lead to a poor digital footprint.
Why is digital footprint scary?
A digital footprint can be scary because it leaves a trace of your online activity that potential employers, contacts, or strangers can track.
Conclusion
Cleaning up your digital footprint is integral to staying safe online and taking control of your data. It can seem daunting, but you can get your digital house in order with the right tools and strategies. Don’t forget to Google yourself occasionally, delete old accounts, update your privacy settings, pay attention to what you share on social media, and use a password manager!
