Your digital footprint: a plain-English tour

Your digital footprint is everything about you that can be found online: the obvious stuff you post, the stuff others post about you, and the invisible layer — data breaches, data brokers, public records, old accounts you forgot. Scammers read footprints for a living. Here’s how to read yours first.

The three layers

• Active footprint: what you deliberately share — posts, photos, comments, reviews, profiles.
• Passive footprint: what’s collected about you — location data, browsing tracking, app analytics, loyalty programs.
• Inherited footprint: what’s leaked or published without your say — data breaches, tagged photos, mentions, public registers, data-broker listings.

The 10-minute footprint check

1. 1

   Search yourself

   In a private browser window, search your full name, name + suburb, name + workplace, and your main usernames. Page one is what a scammer sees in thirty seconds.

2. 2

   View your profiles as a stranger

   Log out or use “view as” features. Note what’s public: employer, family names, birthday, photos that reveal your street or routine.

3. 3

   Check the breach lists

   haveibeenpwned.com shows which known breaches include your email. Each one is a list someone, somewhere, is using.

4. 4

   Dig up old accounts

   Search your email inboxes for “welcome to” and “verify your account”. Every dormant account is stored personal data waiting for that service’s breach.

Shrinking it (without going off-grid)

• Switch social accounts to private and prune public posts (our 20-minute lockdown guide walks through it)
• Delete accounts you no longer use — each deletion deletes a future breach
• Remove your birthdate, phone and address from public profiles
• Ask friends and family before they post photos of you or your kids — and return the courtesy
• Opt out of data-broker and people-search listings where they offer it
• Use different usernames for public forums vs identifiable accounts