Digital Footprint

Digital Footprint

1. What is a digital footprint?

   • The records and traces that we leave behind us as we use the internet

2. What is the economic bargain for the internet?

   • Collect, Mine, Re-sell, and monitoring data all happen to the digital footprint of users
   • The internet allows for marketeers to have direct access to receptive customers
   • Marketeers can specifically target users based on information gathered by them

3. Why did we start leaving such big footprints?

   • Websites will use likability to build profiles on users base on everything they have every shared
   • Websites use cookies to track and gather information on the user
   • Cookies add up information every time you visit a website

4. Are Digital Footprints a problem?

   • Loss of privacy and anonymity
   • The loss of anonymity can pose a significant and real threat

5. Do different devicees make different digital footprints?

   • Desktops/Laptops leave different footprints to smartphone/tablets
   • Cell phones generally leave more intrusive footprints
   • Computers generally leave a footprint through the browser than apps and thus much easier to manage

6. How can I manage my digital footprint?

   • Take thought, time, and effort
   • There are 4 basic levels of managing
     • 1: Improve your understanding of basic issues
     • 2: Develop your "basic hygiene" habits
     • 3: Become a sophisticated user of your online tools and services
     • Find and use specific privacy enhancing tools
   • Must be constantly aware and mindful of what you do and the consequences

7. Who is tracking me and how do they do it?

   • Advertisers who are seeking a target audience
   • Publishers who publish the different advertisements
   • Aggregators who collect data and use it in a lab

8. What dynamics are at work with digital footprints?

   • Cultural, economic, and convenience

9. How does legislation affect our digital footprint?

   • The legislation will vary between countries
   • Data linking, storage, retrieval, correlation, and analysis are falling under privacy laws more and more