Traditionally, a digital identity was held to be information required to identify a particular individual, organization, or device for access to computer networks. A digital identity allowed users to connect to services and determined their privileges in a computer system.
In recent years, a new definition of digital identity has taken root in popular culture. In the broader context of online interaction, a digital identity is the sum total of a user’s non-anonymized online footprint. This digital identity (sometimes called an “online identity”) is part of the user’s social identity and is often linked to national identification systems.