Protect your digital footprint
Every time you post on social media, create an online profile, share a photo or sign up for a service, you leave behind pieces of information about yourself. Over time, this information forms your digital footprint.
Your digital footprint can reveal more about you than you realise, including where you study, where you work, your interests, your routines, and even information that could be used to answer security questions or impersonate you online.
Taking a few simple steps to manage your digital footprint can help protect your privacy, reduce your cyber security risk and prevent personal information from being misused.
What is a digital footprint?
A digital footprint is the trail of information you leave behind when using the internet.
Examples include:
- Social media profiles and posts
- Photos and videos shared online
- Comments on websites and forums
- Publicly available contact information
- Professional networking profiles
- Gaming profiles and usernames
- Information shared through online competitions, surveys or apps
While each piece of information may seem harmless on its own, cyber criminals can combine many different sources to build a surprisingly detailed picture of you.
Review your social media privacy settings
Many social media platforms allow you to control who can view your profile, posts, photos and contact information.
Take a moment to:
- Review who can view your posts and profile information
- Limit the visibility of personal information where possible
- Restrict who can send you messages or friend requests
- Remove old posts that no longer need to be public
- Regularly review tagged photos and posts
Remember that information shared publicly can often be viewed by anyone, including future employers, scammers and cyber criminals.
Be mindful of what you share
Before posting information online, consider whether it could reveal more than intended.
Examples include:
- Photos showing student cards, identification cards or travel documents
- Screenshots containing personal or financial information
- Images that reveal your home address or regular location
- Posts announcing when you're away from home
- Information that could be used to answer account recovery questions
Once information is shared online, it can be difficult or impossible to completely remove.
Check what others can see
Try viewing your social media profiles as a member of the public or from an account that is not connected to you.
Ask yourself:
- What information can a stranger learn about me?
- Can they see where I study, work or live?
- Can they identify my friends and family?
- Are there details that could be used to impersonate me?
Regularly reviewing your online presence can help identify information you may not realise is publicly accessible.
Remember: your digital footprint is permanent
Your online presence can influence opportunities both now and in the future. Taking a few minutes to review your privacy settings and think before you share can help protect your personal information, your reputation and your digital identity.
Protect your online accounts
Even if you carefully manage what you share, your accounts can expose information if they become compromised.
To help protect your accounts:
- Use strong and unique passwords
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) where available
- Review account recovery methods regularly
- Remove old or unused accounts you no longer need
- Keep your contact information up to date