Every click, purchase, and post in the modern digital era produces a digital breadcrumb trail that may be followed by businesses and cybercriminals alike. Your personal information and online actions make up your digital footprint, which is continuously tracked and examined. Your internet experience may be improved by this, but there are concerns as well, like identity theft and privacy violations. 

Essential Tips and Tricks To Safeguard Your Digital Footprint

1. Delete Old Email Accounts

For hackers, unused email addresses can be a treasure trove. Hackers can obtain contacts and personal data from dormant email accounts, and they can even attempt to use the same password on other accounts. Eliminate inactive email accounts on a regular basis to reduce the possibility of unwanted access and data breaches.

2. Limit Social Media Exposure

Even though it might not be feasible for everyone to completely delete social media accounts, you can still reduce your exposure by changing the privacy settings. Put postings on "friends only," turn off location tracking, and choose not to have your search engine results displayed publicly.

3. Avoid Clickbait Surveys

Clickbait surveys on unrelated websites should be avoided. Frequently, these questionnaires gather private data while pretending to be entertaining or rewarding. Avoiding these questionnaires will help you stop businesses from collecting pointless information about you.

4. Create a Spam Email Address

Create a different email address that is just used for promotional and marketing correspondence. Use this email address only for online subscriptions and retail discounts, and keep the amount of personally identifiable information linked to it to a minimum. You can easily delete this email account if it has been compromised in order to reduce the loss of personal data.

Also Read: App Permissions: Understanding Which Ones Should You Allow? 

5. Remove Yourself from People Search Sites

Online data brokers and "people search" websites compile personal data from multiple sources and make it accessible to the general public. To stop illegal access to your personal information, unsubscribe from these websites. Examine your internet account's privacy settings and remove yourself from mailing lists to reduce the amount of information shared with outside parties.

6. Use Stealth Mode When Searching

To browse the internet without saving information to your device, enable stealth or incognito mode in your web browser. By doing this, you lessen your digital footprint by preventing cookies and browsing data from being saved.

7. Protect Your Passwords

Make a unique, strong password for each online account you have, and change it often. Consider using a password manager if you want to handle and save your login information securely. To further secure your accounts, enable multi-factor authentication whenever possible.

Protect Yourself From Digital Criminals

Your personal information and online actions are reflected in your digital footprint. You may reduce the size of your digital footprint and safeguard your privacy from online risks by putting these crucial suggestions into practice. If you want to protect your digital identity and have a safer online experience, be proactive and watchful. Recall that being proactive now can aid in averting possible online hazards later on.

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