What is a digital footprint? Definition, types, and examples

What is a digital footprint?

Think of your digital footprint as the trail of data you leave behind whenever you go online. People also call it your digital shadow, electronic footprint, or internet footprint. It grows with every site you visit, account you create, or email you send. Part of the data comes from what you choose to share, while the rest is collected passively by the platforms and services you use. 

Types of digital footprints

Digital footprints fall into two categories. Both shape your online identity, but they take form in very different ways.

Active digital footprint

An active digital footprint is the part of your online footprint created by actions you take yourself. So each time you publish a post, leave a comment, send an email, or create an account, know that you’re adding to your active digital footprint — you’re the one leaving the trail.

Passive digital footprint

A passive digital footprint forms without any action on your part. It’s the data collected about you indirectly such as browsing history, search queries, location data, and device details. Unlike active traces, passive traces are harder to detect — and much harder to manage.

Digital footprint examples

Your digital footprint is regularly added to via the following:

• Social media profiles. Most internet users access social media daily, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, even if your profile is private and you don’t post personal information, social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, or X (Twitter) can still gather data about you and your friends from your account and posts.
• Internet browsing history. Your browser saves a variety of information about you as you move from page to page. Each time you use search engines like Google or Bing, the company collects information about your searches that can be traced back to you.
• Email. Even if you delete a message after sending it, there’s no guarantee that it’s actually gone. Every email you send or receive is sent through the platform’s servers and into their databases, which may log the content of the email, email addresses, and attachments.
• Online shopping. Your digital footprint grows whenever you make a purchase and share your information with a company or organization. This can include purchase history, banking details such as credit card numbers, and your shipping address.
• Online forums. If you take part in online discussions, you leave a digital footprint. Your comments and posts sharing personal opinions and experiences may also be traced back to you.
• Online banking. When you create an e-banking account, your digital footprint again grows. Paying bills, checking your balance, or making transfers — everything counts.
• Online gaming. Chats, game scores, and other activities add to your digital footprint whenever you play online video games.
• Mobile apps. Many begin collecting data as soon as they’re installed, contributing to your digital footprint. Some even keep tracking activity in the background while the app isn’t in use.
• Smart devices. Popular voice-activated assistants, fitness trackers, rings, and watches — these smart devices continuously log information about how and when you use them.
• Subscriptions and newsletters. Hitting “subscribe” adds more than just content to your inbox. Your email, payment details, and even your preferences become part of your digital footprint.

These are just a few examples of how your online activity grows your digital footprint. Be wary of what you share online because it can be traced back to you.

Why is a digital footprint important?

Your digital footprint is more than just scattered bits of data. It shows the importance of data privacy and managing what information is available about you online. It can shape how others see you, what opportunities you get, and even how secure your identity is. Which brings us to the key reasons it matters:

• Your reputation. Employers, schools, even potential partners may look up your name online. And what they find in your internet footprint can shape their judgments.
• Your privacy. The more information available about you, the easier it is for strangers — or cybercriminals — to piece together details of your personal life and use them against you. 
• Your security. A large digital footprint increases the risk of identity theft, data theft, fraud, or account takeovers if that data falls into the wrong hands.
• Your finances. Companies may use your footprint to target you with personalized ads and pricing, sometimes charging more based on your browsing behavior.
• Your opportunities. A positive digital footprint, like one with a professional profile or published work, can open doors, while a negative one can close them just as quickly.
• Your control. Managing your footprint gives you a say in how others perceive you and what data companies can collect and use.

Interesting yet worrying fact: According to the "Would you delete yourself from the internet?" survey by NordVPN, about one-third of internet users would like to delete themselves from the internet. They mentioned feeling exploited by companies that collect and use personal data, along with concerns about potential hacking, as the main reasons.

How to protect your digital footprint

If you use the internet, carry a smartphone, and stay active on social media, you already have a digital footprint. You can’t erase it completely, but you can control and reduce it: 

• Adjust your privacy settings. Understanding how settings work on your browser and on any sites you visit is important. Check your social media’s privacy preferences, manage and clear cookies on your browser, and don’t rely on default settings if there’s an alternative.
• Be careful about what you share. To avoid oversharing, set boundaries around what you post. Maybe holidays and restaurant pictures are allowed, but not pictures from your home or work. Decide what you’re comfortable making public.
• Keep your online information up to date. If companies or people finder sites display outdated or incorrect details about you, contact them to correct the record or remove your data from people finder sites altogether.
• Delete old social media accounts. You can’t change the fact that you had an account. That’s a permanent part of your digital footprint. But you should still close the social media accounts you don’t use anymore (more on that coming up). You can also contact the company directly after the deletion and request that it remove any records it still holds about you.
• Keep your passwords private. Create unique and complex passwords to keep your online accounts safe and use a password manager to store your passwords. Aim for at least 12 characters, mixing upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. 
• Search yourself online. Regularly look yourself up — search your full name, including middle name, email addresses, and usernames online to see what information is visible to the public. It’s a simple way to catch old accounts, leaked details, or information that could hurt your reputation.
• Use private search engines. Unlike mainstream options, private search engines don’t track your queries or build advertising profiles about you. Switching to one reduces the amount of data collected each time you look a word or phrase up online.
• Limit app permissions. Mobile apps often ask for access to your contacts, location, microphone, or camera — even when they aren’t needed for the app to work. Review these permissions regularly and disable those that aren’t necessary.
• Use a VPN to encrypt your traffic. One way to control your data is by limiting how much information companies get in the first place. A VPN hides your IP address and secures your internet traffic with encryption — essentially, what a VPN can hide from advertisers, internet service providers (ISPs), and other third parties. With a service like NordVPN, you reduce the number of companies tracking your activity. NordVPN also has the Threat Protection Pro™ feature, which helps you identify malware-ridden downloads and blocks trackers and intrusive ads. 

How to delete old accounts and activity

Deleting inactive accounts is a simple way to reduce your online presence. Every profile holds pieces of personal information, and if you're not using the account anymore, you probably don't want that data out there.

A few examples and what to do in each case:

• How to delete your Yahoo account. First, log in and check under “Subscriptions” to make sure you don’t have any active plans. Then go to the Yahoo account termination page, enter your email address, and click “Yes, terminate this account” to confirm.
• How to delete your TikTok account. Go to your TikTok settings, select “Manage account,” and choose “Delete account.” You’ll need to verify your account and then the removal will begin.
• How to delete your Reddit account. In your account, go to “User settings,” scroll down to “Delete account,” and click on it. Fill in the required fields, which will ask for your username and password, tick the disclaimer box, and then click “Deactivate” to finalize.
• How to delete your LinkedIn account. On mobile, go to “Settings,” or on desktop, head to “Settings & privacy.” From there, open “Account preferences,” scroll down to “Close account,” select your reason for leaving, and confirm.
• How to delete your Plenty of Fish account. The easiest way is through the website — log in, go to “My profile,” select “Settings,” scroll down to “Delete my account,” then click and follow the on-screen steps to confirm. While iOS users can delete accounts in the app, the Android version doesn’t currently support this option, so the website is usually the most reliable route.
• How to delete your Facebook account. Open your Facebook settings, go to "Accounts center," then "Personal details" → “Account ownership and control” → “Deactivation and deletion.” Finally, select "Delete account" and follow the prompts. While at it, you can also delete search history from Facebook in the “Activity log” to clear past searches.

How to delete your digital footprint

Technically, you can’t erase yourself from the internet, but you have the right to ask a company holding your data to delete it. However, the process may be long, frustrating, or even unsuccessful. Fortunately, services like Incogni can help by opting your information out of data brokers automatically. Incogni’s specialists contact data brokers on your behalf to request the removal of your personal data from their databases. It’s an easy and effective way to shrink your digital footprint while reducing anonymous calls, spam emails, and scams. Besides, it saves you the time and hassle of handling the removal of your information from people search sites or uncooperative data brokers yourself, making it a win-win choice for those tired of spammers and anonymous callers.