Until recently, a person knew everything about his tracks: where and how they can be left and how to avoid this if desired. But modern technologies have fundamentally changed our lives, and it turned out that in the virtual space it is also possible to inherit. So much so that the consequences will have to be dealt with in the real world.
In the world of cybertenes
Among the many new concepts that have come into use in the 21st century, there is such a digital footprint. Speaking in a language accessible to the average Internet user, a digital footprint (also called a digital fingerprint, as well as digital or cyber shadow) is information about a person that remains on the Internet after he has viewed the web pages. It is stored in the form of cookies (from the English cookie, literally "cookie") - small pieces of data sent by the server to the device from where you entered the Internet. Cookies help in authenticating (authenticating) the user, saving his settings and personal preferences.
The digital footprint is active and passive. The first user deliberately leaves - these are blog posts, comments on discussions, votes in support of petitions, correspondence, likes, and so on. From all this, a virtual image of a person is formed.
A passive digital trail is considered to be data left unintentionally: device ip-address or browsing history.
The first user exit into cyberspace leaves a digital fingerprint there. But since it is impossible to limit one visit to the global network, one of the main algorithms of the modern Internet comes into play - the filter system. It monitors, collects and analyzes all a person's Internet activity: what places he visits, what he is interested in, what he pays for, etc. Based on this digital footprint, the system selects content that is important for a particular user and filters out information noise. A so-called filter bubble is created around a person - an exclusive version of the virtual space.
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Who is following the trail?
This, of course, is not dangerous, on the contrary, it makes life on the Internet easier and even tickles pride pleasantly. However, it is not only dispassionate algorithms invented for our convenience that follow the digital trail.
Frivolity and excessive frankness on the Web can significantly compromise the user's safety. Relying on the data of the digital trail, criminals hack accounts, gain access to personal correspondence, work data, and bank accounts. And ill-wishers use it as an inexhaustible source of information for cyberbullying, doxing (collecting personal information about a person), stalking (persecution) and other dangerous practices.
IT companies, which, in fact, provide Internet services, use digital traces to manage the attention of users for commercial purposes through services, applications and targeted advertising (a form of online advertising that uses complex methods and settings for finding a target audience for given parameters).
They also regularly collect and organize digital traces, ostensibly to improve the quality of customer service. Some of the information is actually used for this, and the rest, with the help of special programs, is turned into "predictive products" for sale or exchange. Moreover, it is not the situation on the stock exchange or the price of oil that is predicted at all, the focus is on our future. You can be proud or afraid: for knowing what each of us will do tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or in a year, politicians, trading firms and intelligence agencies pay handsomely. This phenomenon has reached such a scale that in 2014 sociologist Shoshana Zuboff even introduced a new concept into use - surveillance capitalism (surveillance capitalism).
Peekaboo
Given this state of affairs, it shouldn't come as a surprise that people begin to obfuscate their digital footprint in every possible way. Here are some shade guidelines that users share with each other.
… If you decide to join a social network, where you must specify your phone number or e-mail, or both at once, it would be useful to create a mailbox specifically for this purpose with a link to the main one and get a second SIM card. Close your pages from strangers and be sure to keep your friends and groups secret. Follow the background in your photos. Do not post the same pictures in different social networks if you do not want to advertise the fact that these accounts belong to the same person. Be careful in comments left in open groups: the personality of the commentator can be very vivid in them, especially if the recording was made under the influence of an emotional outburst. Before publishing a screenshot, enter any graphics editor and remove all technical information about the operating system, browser,bookmarks, etc. And if you are determined to clean up your traces, coordinate your actions with family and friends, otherwise all your efforts will not bring results: you will be hunted down through other people's accounts.
However, all these measures allow you to effectively play hide and seek only with other users. From programmers, hackers and owners of the Internet - IT-companies - it will not be possible to hide in this way. There is only one possible way: to leave all social networks, end e-mails, refuse purchases in online stores, throw away the computer with a smartphone, and generally stop all interaction with the Internet, including weather servers. But in all honesty, which of us is ready to give up those small and large advantages that information technology has given us? By taking such a radical step, there is more to lose than gain.
Virtual footprint and real life
Let us not forget that the future belongs to those who make good use of the achievements of progress, and not to those who stubbornly deny them. Humanity is now on the cusp of a new era where having a positive digital fingerprint will become as important as having a good credit history.
Anecdotes about the fact that some applicant was not hired because he had too few friends on VKontakte gradually cease to be funny. If in 2006 only 11 percent of large employers checked what was happening on the social networks of a potential employee, then in 2017 70 percent did it! And since demand creates supply, companies have already emerged that specialize in collecting digital information about a person and then providing it to whoever pays.
It is difficult to overestimate the role of the Internet in personal life. People meet on social networks, fall in love on social networks … And even if the first meeting took place in real life, according to statistics, seven out of ten young people will still check the profile of the person they are interested in. If there is no information, four of these seven will suspect something is wrong and refuse to continue the relationship.
Now imagine that you had a falling out with someone and that someone began to write nasty things about you on the forums, in personal correspondence with mutual acquaintances and in general wherever possible. In the absence of an active positive digital footprint, it is highly likely that this negative will become the main characteristic of your personality for everyone who enters your name into a search engine. A damaged reputation is not just sad, but sometimes dangerous.
It is no coincidence that the number of people in the world who cares about the state of their digital footprint no less than their appearance is growing every day. They come to the rescue of firms that do scans and detailed analysis of customers' social networks and search results on his behalf. All malicious information is marked in red for future correction or removal, and the client receives recommendations to supplement the digital footprint with positive information.
In Russia, this segment of the information technology services market is not yet occupied. But something tells - it won't be for long.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №34. Author: Svetlana Yolkina