What Is a Digital Footprint?

*Content includes branded mentions of our sponsor, Norton Secure VPN.

If you’ve spent any amount of time online, you already have a digital footprint. Every click, share and online purchase you make contributes to this invisible trail of data, which is left behind as we navigate the internet. While they can help create a personalized online experience, digital footprints also hold several implications for our privacy, security and even financial well-being.

Understanding what a digital footprint is and the ways it can impact our lives is crucial in a time when information is so easily accessible online. Read on to learn everything you need to know about your digital identity, including how it works, where it comes from and how you can manage it effectively to protect your personal information.

What is a digital footprint?

A digital footprint is a unique set of data that describes who you are based on your personal information and online activities. You add data to your digital footprint every time you scroll through a webpage, like a friend’s post or click on an ad. Because nearly everything you do online is considered, it’s nearly impossible to avoid creating a footprint in the first place.

There are several benefits to having a digital footprint:

• It can enhance your browsing and shopping experience with personalized search results and ads. This way, you won’t be showered with irrelevant information or marketing.
• It can help improve your online security by making fraud easier to detect­. For example, if your bank notices spending activity that doesn’t fit with your habits, it can preemptively freeze your card.
• Carefully managing your digital footprint can help you project a positive image online, which may help if an employer looks into your history to learn more about you.

Nonetheless, your digital footprint can also pose an online privacy risk. People often share data unintentionally with third parties that can store and sell it to other businesses. If your personal information is exposed to hackers — as a result of a data breach, for example — you could become the victim of identity theft or fraud.

How does a digital footprint work?

Most online browsing isn’t private, even if you’re using a so-called “private” browser window. Many sites use cookies, or small lines of code, to identify you as a unique user. But a digital footprint isn’t just made up of cookies: It also includes social media profiles, search history and shopping activity.

Your digital footprint will look slightly different depending on who has access to it. For example, your favorite online shopping platform might have a profile that includes your purchase history, location, past searches and more. Apps like Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) might have different profiles that include your tagged posts and browsing activity.

You can think of your digital footprint like a shadow — it looks a little different from every angle, but it provides a basic outline of who you are. Marketers use this digital shadow to personalize the online ads they show you. It can also be used by banks to strengthen security and by prospective employers who want to learn more about you.

Types of digital footprints

There are two types of digital footprints: active and passive. They are made up of “intentional” or “unintentional” data, respectively. In other words, there’s a footprint based on information you consciously put out into the world and one that comes from information you inadvertently leave behind.

Active digital footprint

Your active digital footprint is shaped by information you intentionally put online. It includes things like your social media posts, emails and text messages. Managing this intentional data is one of the easiest ways to create a positive digital footprint and protect your online reputation.

This is especially important for business owners and public figures. Everything you put online becomes a part of your active footprint and can be seen by other people, so be careful about what you post or write on the Internet.

Passive digital footprint

A passive digital footprint is made up of a data trail you unintentionally leave behind. That might include your IP address, location, search history and shopping habits. This footprint is not as immediately visible as your active footprint, but it can be tracked by private companies and — more importantly — cyberthieves.

If you’re wondering how to protect yourself online, managing your passive footprint is an important aspect. Tools like VPNs, identity protection services and malware protection can help to keep this personal data private.

Examples of digital footprints

To further explain how digital footprints work, let’s look at two different examples.

Person A is a 25-year-old woman with an active social media presence. If you search her name on Google, you can see part of her active footprint: her photos, posts and a few comments written by other people. This gives you a basic idea of who Person A is.

Meanwhile, third-party data collection sites have built a unique profile of her online shopping habits and browser history, so her digital footprint may also include the street she lives on, her favorite brands and her latest Google searches.

Person B is a 50-year-old man with no presence on social media platforms. If you search for him online, you might find an old newspaper article or a family member’s obituary, if anything. His active digital footprint is very small. However, he spends a lot of time browsing online, so his pastimes, geolocation and even political preferences are revealed in his passive digital footprint.

While Person A and Person B might think their digital footprints are very different, they are both sharing information through their browsing activity, Google search history, YouTube watch history and more. That information is visible to private companies and could potentially be accessed by identity thieves.

How to check your digital footprint

There are a few ways to check your digital footprint. One of the easiest methods is to Google your name. This can show you the publicly available information contributing to your digital footprint. For example, you might find some old social media posts you forgot about or a mention of your name in a local news article.You can also use a digital footprint checker to see parts of your passive digital footprint. Some of these services are free and only require an email or social media handle. While a digital footprint finder might not show all of your online information, it can be a helpful tool to see which websites and data collection agencies have your information.

Protecting your digital footprint and online identity

If you’re surprised by the results of your digital footprint search, don’t panic. There are ways to manage your footprint and boost your online security.

Here are a few digital footprint safety tips you’ll want to keep in mind:

• Use a “spam” email address: Create a separate address just for receiving email marketing and offers. This way, you can use one email for online shopping and another for receiving more sensitive information, like bills and online banking statements.
• Review website privacy policies: Make sure to at least skim over a website’s privacy policy before you make an account or provide any information to it, especially if you’re making a purchase. Figure out what information the website collects, how it uses this data and with whom they might share it. You may also want to find out how long it keeps your information stored.
• Use strong, unique passwords: Strong passwords are a simple but effective security measure that make it harder for cybercriminals to break into your online accounts. Consider using one of the best password managers to create and store multiple unique passwords with a mix of letters, numbers and special characters.
• Clean up your data trail: Your browsing history can be accessed by other people who use your device and third parties that collect data. To help protect this information, you can clear your search history, browsing data and cookies in your browser’s settings.
• Set your social media profiles to private: When your social media accounts are public, anyone can view your posts through search engines or directly on the social networking platform. Strict privacy settings can limit what’s available for anyone to see. Additionally, you should avoid oversharing personal information on social media sites.
• Don’t fill out random online forms: When a questionnaire unexpectedly pops up on a new site you visit, think twice before engaging. It may just be there to provide the company with more information about you.
• Opt out of cookies and trackers: When given the option to accept optional cookies, choose to opt out. Some websites need certain cookies to function properly, but these will probably be active regardless of your input.

A reliable VPN service can help you protect your online presence by hiding your IP address and browsing history, blocking your location and more.

How to erase your digital footprint

There is no way to delete your digital footprint completely — it’s something that all internet users develop one way or another. That said, it is possible to erase some of its parts that could harm your reputation or online security. One way to do so is to remove yourself from data broker websites, which are sites that gather your information from other sources and sell it forward.

To remove your information from data brokers, you first have to find the site’s opt-out form and fill it out. Some data brokers have downloadable opt-out forms on their websites, while others might provide them by email. If you can’t find an option to opt out of the data collection service, call the company’s customer support line.

You can also manually check for your information on data broker websites or use a digital footprint search tool to find which companies have your information. Other steps you can take to scrub your digital footprint include deleting old social media profiles and email accounts as well as regularly clearing your browsing data.

Summary of Money's What Is a Digital Footprint?

Everyone who uses the internet has a digital footprint. And that isn’t always a bad thing. Our digital footprints tell the world who we are. They can project a positive image and help to prevent fraud.

However, your digital footprint can also contain a lot of private information. Your information could be vulnerable to exposure in data breaches and identity theft. Protect your digital footprint by following basic online security steps, clearing your browsing data and opting out of cookies. If you aren’t sure how much of your personal information is available online, try a digital footprint search. Moreover, if you want to limit what goes into your digital footprint, consider getting well-known and respected cybersecurity tools like Norton Secure VPN.