Thing 16
This weekās Thing was on āYour Digital Footprint.ā It was a very informative and insightful Thing. While I am aware of my digital footprint, I am probably not careful as I should be. Hickey mentioned the need to be careful of what you post on social media, e.g. on Facebook and Twitter, not only because of repercussions for current and future employment but also in regards to defamation. This was an important point that I had heard many times and something I try my best to follow, even though I can be very difficult to not to get engaged in certain (sometimes controversial) subjects or arguments on social media. I was vaguely aware of geographic locations in photos but not to the extent thatĀ I make sure that that information is stripped from any of my photos (This is definitely something I am going to remedy with immediate effect!) I am not that familiar with Flickr so I had not realised that they could ask you to agree to sublicensing your uploaded images to a commercial partner.
The task for this week was to look through a list of points in relation to our digital footprint to be aware of them and how we can protect ourselves.
Be very careful giving out personal information to websites that you are unfamiliar with. Yes, I am careful about this and if I have not heard of the website I try to find out what I can about it before giving out any personal information.
Do not respond to phishing emails. Remember, Banks or Paypal, etc will never ask you to send personal details or to āClick Hereā to login. Only ever call them on a number you trust or login into your account on a trusted computer on a secure internet connection that you initiated. Phishing emails are so annoying! Iāve had a one or two of near misses before where Iāve almost clicked on a link but thankful I realised that they were phishing emails before I did.
Donāt download illegal software - apart from the legal ramifications - quite often, this software will have backdoors programmed in to allow access to your device or information at a later stage. Iām not particularly IT orientated so even if I was of a mind to download illegal software I would be too nervous that it would cause havoc on my laptop.
Be careful when connecting to the internet when out and about. For example, a coffee shop, or bar or airport waiting room. Make sure that you are connecting to a legitimate hot-spot and that it is encrypted. In the public domain there is potential for fake wi-fi hotspots to be set up, such as āfreeStudentWiFiā that could steal your information. I am quite cautious about this and try to always make sure that I connect to a legitimate hot-spot. If I am in anyway unsure then I will use my data.
Do read T&Cās of the apps you download so that you can give āinformed consent.ā I do try and skim-read the T&Cās but they are always so long and filled with so much legal jargon that I give up ½ to ¾ās of the way through.
Be aware online of what you post, both from a defamatory perspective and regarding giving out too much information about yourself or your family. As I mentioned above I try my best to avoid getting into online arguments and I stop andĀ think before I post anything. As a general rule, when in doubt āJust keep scrolling!ā
Educate yourself about the basics of the internet and how it works. This will allow you to become more aware of the risks out there and how to mitigate them if needed. This is something that I definitely need to work on. This Thing provides the first step in educating myself about the internet and how it works.
Do use an alphanumeric password, i.e. characters, numbers a special character. Do not use the same password or a very close derivation for all your accounts. Remember, if I can get access to your email account, I will be able to reset most of your online accounts and take control of them. Change your passwords reasonably often. I always use alphanumeric passwords; however, Iām not the best at regularly changing them. I have tried before but I find that it gets very confusing very quickly.
Finally, enjoy yourself online but always remember the pictures or content you post could potentially end up in a newspaper / in an ad campaign / looking back at you in a job interview, etc... So be prudent and careful about your digital footprint. I try to be careful, but I suppose a person canāt be too careful, especially about your digital footprint!
Overall, this was a very informative Thing and has given me a lot of food for thought. Based on this Thing I have begun to use DuckDuckGo, a search engine that, unlike Google or Bing, doesnāt track you; as well as setting up a ProtonMail account, which is an encrypted email service.













