Your Guide to Reclaiming Digital Privacy

What is Your Digital Footprint?

Your digital footprint is the trail of data you leave behind when you use the internet. It's composed of two types of data: active and passive.

Active Footprint: Data you knowingly share. This includes social media posts, comments on a blog, or filling out a contact form.
Passive Footprint: Data collected without your direct knowledge. This includes your IP address, your browsing history collected by cookies, and your location data.

Understanding both is the first step to managing your online presence.

Multiple entities are interested in your data for various reasons, from advertising to data analysis.

Advertisers & Tech Companies: Giants like Google and Meta track your activity across websites and apps to build a detailed profile for targeted advertising.
Data Brokers: These are companies that build profiles about individuals and sell that data to other companies for marketing, risk assessment, and other purposes. They collect information from public records, social media, and purchasing history.
Your ISP: As we've mentioned, your Internet Service Provider can see the domains you visit.

You can take concrete steps to reduce your digital footprint and protect your information.

Use a Privacy-Focused Browser: Browsers like Brave or Firefox with enhanced tracking protection block many third-party trackers by default.
Manage App Permissions: Regularly review the permissions you've granted to apps on your smartphone. Does that game really need access to your contacts or location?
Secure Your Social Media: Set your social media profiles to private. Be mindful of what you share publicly. Most platforms have a 'Privacy Checkup' tool—use it.
Use a VPN: A VPN is a foundational privacy tool. It encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address, making it much harder for your ISP and websites to track your activity and location.