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Managing your footprints: How to navigate the forest

In real life, managing our digital footprint is crucial to avoid unintended consequences. Here are a few practical steps to help stay on track:

  • Learn about metadata: find out what internet services providers can figure out about you just by using it. Try this experiment: go to page www.clickclickclick.click, click the button and watch what happens. We recommend turning the sound on.
  • Limit data sharing: try to be selective about what personal information you make public, especially on social media platforms. 
  • Review privacy settings: regularly check and adjust the privacy settings on your accounts. Many platforms update their policies, and keeping your settings tight helps you control who sees your information.
  • Delete unused accounts: while simply deleting an old profile does not necessarily mean that all associated data disappears forever, it is a good step anyways. Many companies retain data in backup servers or archives, even after account deletion. However, deleting unused accounts is still a useful step because it prevents future data collection and minimises your exposure. It is especially important to ensure that platforms are not continuing to collect personal information from an account you are no longer using. Plus, if you delete old accounts, you eliminate the risk of those accounts being hacked in the future.
  • Use strong, unique passwords: strong, unique passwords help safeguard the data associated with your accounts. This does not minimise the size of your footprint directly but prevents unauthorised access, which can lead to your data being misused, sold, or shared beyond your control.

In DigiCity, players learn how important it is to manage these digital breadcrumbs carefully. Mismanagement leads to real consequences within the game world, teaching players the value of good digital hygiene.

Digital hygiene: Cleaning up the trail

Practicing digital hygiene is like cleaning up our trail, making it harder for others to follow us. In real life, this means regularly reviewing what personal data we have shared and taking steps to protect it. In the game, players are reminded of this through challenges that force them to re-evaluate their digital decisions.

Most people are unaware of the extent to which their data is tracked until something goes wrong. This lack of awareness is what makes digital hygiene so critical. By routinely “cleaning up” our digital footprint, we minimise risks like identity theft or unwanted surveillance.

Conclusion: The Power of a Thoughtful Trail

Every post, every “like,” every click and even each second of not doing anything, contributes to the growing trail that defines who we are online – our digital footprint. We cannot create any new or delete our existing digital footprint but that is not really the point. Managing it means thinking critically, making informed choices, and practicing good digital hygiene. It is about realising that every piece of our online presence contributes to a narrative. And we, as the author, have some power to craft it.

References:

  • Image source: Canva
  • Acquisti, A., Brandimarte, L., & Loewenstein, G. (2015). Privacy and human behavior in the age of information. Science, 347(6221), 509-514.
  • Solove, D. J. (2007). The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. Yale University Press.
  • Berkelaar, B. L. (2014). Cybervetting, online information, and personnel selection: New transparency expectations and the emergence of a digital social contract. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(4), 479-506.
  • Debatin, B., Lovejoy, J. P., Horn, A. K., & Hughes, B. N. (2009). Facebook and online privacy: Attitudes, behaviors, and unintended consequences. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15(1), 83-108.