User:Mpresho/Digital footprint

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Like many things, digital footprints can be used for both good and bad. They can create privacy issues and allow corporations to customize ads based on personal browsing history. Employers can use a candidate's digital footprint for online vetting and assessing fit. They can even generate profit for people such as social media influencers. As technology usage becomes more and more widespread, digital footprints are even being found in young children.

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Passive digital footprints are a data trail that an individual involuntarily leaves online. They can be stored in various ways depending on the situation. A footprint may be stored in an online database as a "hit" in an online environment. The footprint may track the user's IP address, when it was created, where it came from, and the footprint later being analyzed. In an offline environment, administrators can access and view the machine's actions without seeing who performed them. Examples of passive digital footprints are apps that use geolocations, websites that download cookies onto your appliance, or browser history. Although passive digital footprints are inevitable, they can be lessened by deleting old accounts, using privacy settings (public or private accounts), and occasionally online searching yourself to see the information left behind.

Active digital footprints are deliberate, as they are information that is posted or shared willingly. They can be stored in a variety of ways depending on the situation. A digital footprint can be stored when a user logs into a site and makes a post or change; the registered name is connected to the edit in an online environment. Examples of active digital footprints include social media posts, video or image uploads, or changes to various websites.