# Welcome to SMIRK Unit
7 - Your digital footprint

- What is your digital footprint?
- Big brother is watching you
- Following your digital footprints
- Your profile
- Your professional profile
- Back to main index

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# What is your digital
footprint?

Nearly everybody uses social networks now, but you must evaluate the information you put out there. Will it be relevant in a few years time?, is it accurate?, would you be happy for anyone to see it?, including prospective employers.

Your internet profile is also known as your digital footprint. Look at this video by Steve Johnston - it will give you some food for thought. Can't see the video?- you can watch it on the Educator's PLN website.

A note of caution was raised by a recent case which shows the need for care. There is good advice on personal information safety on the site of the Information Commissioner's Officewhich is also where you can find information on the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Big brother is
watching you

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Your digital footprint can be your shop window, where you can showcase your achievements. However, if you get it wrong, it can work against you with future employers or even when you apply for a visa or some university courses!

Your foorprint can be much wider than just information on your web pages, it can extend to:

- CCTV footage
- your location, if you use GPRS on your phone
- your movements through sites on the internet
- your credit card details if you allow a site to store them

Let's look at this in some more detail.

###### Picture by Vince Lamb, available from Flikr creative commons CC-BY-NC-SA

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Following your digital
footprints

Most public areas now have some sort of CCTV system. Digital images from these can be stored for some time, especially if they are filming any sort of protest march or large gathering. The police and other government agencies can have access to these images, so it is worthwhile considering who will be watching you as you make your views known. In one case, a young man ended up on the sex offenders register when he could not find a convenient toilet. He was included for exposing his genetalia in a public place!

Activity: Look at your mobile phone. Do you have GPRS switched on? It is usually shown by small letters beside your signal strength icon. Did you realise that your whereabouts can be tracked as you move about? Do you want them to be? If not, reset the options on your phone and save them.

When you browse the interenet, some providers note your browsing history and use the information for marketing and other purposes. It can be worthwhile to look at the privacy settings on your browser and search engine, and read the small print when choosing an internet service provider.

Internet shopping is very convenient, but many sites will ask you if they can store your credit card details for future use. Think carefully about this before you say yes. There have been several recent incedents where financial details have been stolen by hackers. It can be safer to use a third party system like PayPal, where the vendor never sees your financial information.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Your profile

There are now a variety of social networking sites which allow you to maintain both a professional and personal profile. This allows you to keep the two activities separate. Be very careful how you set up the privacy settings on your pages. Some of these services still keep your data long after you sign off from their service, for example, you can still be tagged on facebook, even if you have closed down your own site. Some people will use the same service, like Twitter, for both a professional and personal profile.

Why bother? This YouTube video should make you think!

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

# Your professional profile

Your professional profile may also be enhanced if you appear on any of your academic institution's web pages, for instance those for a research centre. You may also be active in a professional association, so you may also be mentioned there. The table below suggests some services and the different uses for them.

Personal | Professional | Media
twitter | twitter |
facebook | Linked in |

Activity: Google yourself! What have you found? Would you want a future employer (or your parents!) to see it? Try Googling one of your lecturers and compare the results.

That is the end of our section on your digital footprint, be careful out there!

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/