The trail you leave
Wet feet leave marks on a floor. Go online and you leave marks too. They are your digital footprint — the trail you leave online.
- Your digital footprint has two kinds.
- Active: things you do on purpose.
- Passive: things left without your knowing.
- Before you post, ask: would everyone see this?
Some footprints you leave on purpose. Others you leave without knowing.
An active digital footprint is data you leave on purpose. Data here means facts about you. You send a comment. You join a club online. You accept a cookie. That is a small file a site saves on your device.
A passive digital footprint is data left without your knowing. A video site remembers what you liked and shows ads to match. An app may record where you are. Some cookies are saved without telling you.
To keep your footprint small, think before you post. An app has settings, which are choices you can change. They let you pick who sees a post.
Watch out!
Even with privacy settings, others can copy your post. Post only what you would share with everyone.
Was each footprint left on purpose?
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