Tread lightly: Digital Footprint (Thing 16)

What is happening to our data online has been high in the headlines recently thanks to Facebook revelations, yet I like many other continue to use Facebook aware that they may/ may not be recording information about me and what I do on tier site. While working through Thing 16 and reflecting on what I do to keep myself safe online, I wonder if I have become a little blasé about what information is being kept about me and my digital footprint. I all too quickly accept (and ignore) the adverts that appear on a webpage highlighting products from other websites I have visited, and some online retailers making suggestions of products I may like based on my previous purchases or search history. But am I doing enough to stop information being used like this to essentially target advertisements at me and collect data about me? I feel I have room for improvement.

Reading the information in Thing 16 especially about Facebook, their rights to use my post photos or images, and the data that may well be still stored in these images online came as a surprise to me. I’d never thought about it. But now I will have too. This aside I do go careful with what I do on Facebook. My account is private, I limit friends to people I really want knowing things about me, not accepting every friend request that comes along. Photos of trips out or days away are only posted on return, and I never make personal remarks or comments about people. I used to work on the principle that you shouldn’t post anything you would be ashamed to show or say to your parents. Now my parents are on Facebook I’m doubly careful! But at the article points out nothing is free – there is a data cost to using Facebook which it seems we have to accept or close the account and move on. 

I do on occasion venture to use the ‘Free’ onboard Wi-Fi when using trains, if I have my Pad with me, which is mixed experience really depending on the route and trains themselves. I have though since reading Thing 16 been reconsidering the use of such free WI-FI services and hotspots because of security issues. I’ve found Scotrail’s Wi-Fi terms and conditions and they clearly state, “We cannot guarantee the service is secure”, the service being a public network so open to possible interception of data. The onus is on uses to have devices that encrypt information or use a VPN. I will rarely to anything other that browse websites in this situation and I certainly refrain from making any purchases and having found out the status of the Wi-Fi connection, I may not use it again. http://scotrail.on.icomera.com/terms.html

Having once had my email account hacked, I’m very aware of the need to change my password regularly and to be aware of fake and phishing emails. To my banks credit they always reassure me that they will never send emails asking to send or confirm personal details by email, though interestingly most bank related emails are form banks other than my own which makes them easy to deal with.  I’m lethal with the delete button on anything that looks remotely suspicious or junk, working on the principle that if it’s really important they’ll make contact another way if I’ve deleted the email that was actually legitimate! 

As an extra level of security, I do need to get hotter on regularly deleting cookies on my PC and Pad, and making sure I always sign out of accounts and avoiding allowing the device to automatically log me in. The issue of remembering passwords though then kicks in but the more I have to sign in every time (I hope) the easier it will be to remember them, and while I make sure my passwords feature a range of letters, numbers and symbols, along with many people I more regular alteration of them would be good practice to enhance and protect my online accounts. I wasn’t aware of sites like DuckDuckGo or what a Virtual Private Network was before this section, and I look forward to investigating these further as I look at how I can lessen my digital footprint, and make sure my online web use is as secure as possible.

On a work-related note, I am now going to investigate what the pupils at school are taught about keeping themselves safe online but also issues raised here about awareness of what information sites collect about you, keeping out of trouble on sites like Facebook which has caused issues between pupils in the school. With no Computing teachers in our school at present, the role of the librarian may come into its own in helping the pupils become as safe and data secure at possible online.