Your Digital Footprints & How Employers and Investigators Use Them to Track You

Like oxygen, people depend on the internet more than ever in the course of human history. Whether it’s making reports for your next office presentation, finding the best Spanish restaurant to take your date, or even meeting new friends and strangers, the internet is integral to our daily lives. 

The scary part is that whenever you use the internet, you leave behind a trail of information known as your digital footprint. This footprint grows in many ways – posting on social media, subscribing to newsletters, leaving online reviews, or shopping online. According to a recent report by researchers, the average adult shares 276 posts on Instagram, 170 on Facebook, and 141 tweets annually. This results in a digital footprint containing 9,828 photos, 10,811 social media posts, and 126 email addresses over a lifetime. 

This data is collected, collated, stored, and analyzed by various organizations, from big social media companies to app developers and data brokers. You might be surprised to learn that if you apply for a job or want to start a business project with a new partner, they can track your history to understand what kind of person you are.

 In this blog, we will discuss how employers and investigators might use this information to track your behaviors and habits and how it can affect your future. So, if you want to secure your future from any kind of digital harm, I suggest you read until the end.

What is a Digital Footprint?

Imagine you’re walking on the beach. As you stroll along, you leave footprints in the sand. These footprints tell anyone who comes along where you’ve been. Now, swap the beach for the internet.  Every click, comment, like, and share you make leaves a little mark, a digital footprint. It’s the trace of your online activity that can be seen and followed. 

Examples of Digital Footprints from Our Daily Life

• Posting, liking, sharing, or commenting on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
• Searching for information on Google or other search engines.
• Browsing, adding to cart, and purchasing items on e-commerce sites like Amazon.
• Sending and receiving emails through services like Gmail or Outlook.
• Using navigation apps like Google Maps, checking in at locations, or having location services enabled on your smartphone.

Types of Digital Footprints:

Active Footprints: 

These are the things you intentionally do online. Posting on social media, writing a blog, sending emails, or uploading videos – all these actions create active footprints.

Passive Footprints: 

These are the tracks you leave without even realizing it. Websites you visit, your IP address, search history, and even your location data can create passive footprints.

Private Digital Footprint

A private digital footprint consists of data that is not publicly accessible but still tracks our online behavior. Emails, text messages, and direct messages on social media platforms that you send to your close friends and family comes in this category.

Public Digital Footprint

A public digital footprint includes any information about you that is publicly accessible. Common examples are Public posts, photos, comments, and interactions that you do on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Why Your Digital Footprints are important?

Picture this: you’ve found your dream job. You nail the interview, but then your potential boss does a little online snooping with the help of trained investigators. They find some less-than-professional posts you made years ago and based on this, they can reject you from your dream position even if you are a perfect match. According to Digital Footprint Statistics, 6 out of 10 people prefer to use the internet to find the information they need.

You often hear news about famous celebrities and politicians who have to face several charges and public scrutiny when their fans or critics find some random posts or comments they made. 

In 2015, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner faced backlash for mocking the Chinese accent in tweets during a diplomatic trip. This controversy, coupled with her involvement in a high-profile murder case, highlighted how careless online behavior can damage a professional career. Her digital footprint affected her credibility and diplomatic efforts.

Here is how Digital Footprint can play an important role in your life,

• Colleges and scholarship committees may review your online presence to learn more about your character and achievements.
•  A positive digital footprint can help you connect with professionals and peers in your field of interest.
• Financial institutions and lenders might assess your online behavior when considering you for loans or credit.
• Digital footprints can be used in legal investigations to establish timelines and behaviors.
• Employers often check your online activity; a clean and professional digital presence can boost your job chances.
•  Oversharing online can make you a target for scammers and cyberbullies; managing your footprints helps keep you safe.

How Employers and Investigators Use Them to Track You?

Nowadays, lying on your resume is becoming harder than ever before. Many top-rated companies and PR agencies have digital investigators who can spend only minutes to find all your academic and employment records just to verify if you actually possess all the skills you claim to have. 

No matter how good-looking and smart you are, a single racist joke that you posted in high school can remove you from the race for your dream job. Due to its significance, around 86% of Americans have tried to remove their information from the internet to manage their digital footprint.

Digital investigators and even scammers have certain tricks and tools they use to do background checks on every target individual. 

1. Background Checks:

When you apply for a job, your potential employer doesn’t just read your resume and call your references. They also check your online presence. They’ll dig through your social media profiles, search for your name on Google, and even look at the comments you leave on websites. They want to know if you present yourself professionally online and if your behavior aligns with the company’s values. As studied by Digital Footprint Statistics, 47% of people look up their information on the internet. The main purpose of this is to remove any information that can be used against them. 

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Background Checks:

• Use tools like Hootsuite and Social Mention to track your social media activity and sentiment.
• Advanced Google searches with Boolean operators to find specific information and hidden links about you.
• Access databases like Spokeo or Whitepages to gather information from public records.
• Use Google’s reverse image search to find other places where your photos might appear online.
• Check the Internet Archive to see what your past online profiles and websites looked like.
• Browse through online forums and communities where you might have left a digital footprint.
• Use tools to gather all your professional connections and activities from LinkedIn.
• Employ extensions like Hunter to find email addresses and contact details linked to your online presence.
• Search the dark web for any leaked personal information or data breaches related to your identity.

2. Behavior Insights:

Employers scrutinize your social media profiles, blogs, and comments to get a deeper understanding of your personality and behavior. They don’t just look at the surface; they delve into your posts, likes, shares, and even the tone of your interactions. This isn’t just about what you post but how you interact with others online. Keep in mind that every post and comment paints a picture of your character.

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Behavior Insights:

• Use tools like Lexalytics or MonkeyLearn to analyze the tone and sentiment of your social media posts and comments.
• Employ platforms to monitor your social media activity and track any recurring themes or behaviors.
• They use tools like Crystal Knows to gain insights into your personality based on your online interactions.
• Utilize advanced search functions on social media platforms to find specific keywords or phrases in your posts and comments.
• Leverage software to detect patterns in your online behavior.
• Use aggregators like Feedly to compile all your online content, making it easier to analyze your overall online persona.
• Employ tools to get a comprehensive view of your online reputation and the factors influencing it.
• If accessible, check your browser history to see which sites you visit frequently and what that might say about your interests and habits.
• Analyze engagement metrics like the number of likes, shares, and comments to understand how influential and active you are online.
• Create a map of your digital footprint using tools like Pipl to connect all your online activities and profiles for a complete behavioral picture.

3. Skill Showcase:

Your digital footprint can highlight your skills and interests, giving employers a window into what you’re truly passionate about. They scour your online presence, looking for evidence of your talents and hobbies. Whether it’s your GitHub repository showcasing your coding projects, a personal blog filled with writing samples, or an Instagram page displaying your art, these digital breadcrumbs reveal what you’re capable of. According to recent stats,  61% of employers verify a candidate’s qualifications on social media profiles.

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Skill Showcase:

• Investigators visit platforms like GitHub, Behance, or Dribbble to find your coding projects, design work, and other professional portfolios.
• Explore sites like Medium or WordPress where you might publish articles, essays, or creative writing samples.
• Check LinkedIn for endorsements and recommendations that highlight your professional skills and achievements.
• They view your YouTube or Vimeo channels for tutorials, project walkthroughs, or any content demonstrating your expertise.
• They explore your profiles on platforms to assess your artistic skills.
• Investigators deeply analyze your blog posts to gauge your writing skills, depth of knowledge, and passion for your field.
• They verify any online courses or certifications you’ve completed on sites like Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn Learning.
• They search for any recorded webinars, talks, or presentations you’ve given that might be available on platforms like SlideShare.

4. Network Connections:

Employers might look at who you’re connected to on professional networks like LinkedIn. They examine your connections to see if you’re linked with industry leaders, influential professionals, or respected peers in your field. It’s not just about the quantity of connections but the quality and relevance to your career path. 

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Network Connections:

• They use tools to gather detailed information about your connections and their relevance.
• Employ platforms to visualize and analyze your professional network connections.
• They Review endorsements and recommendations on LinkedIn to see who has vouched for your skills and expertise.
• Check your membership in LinkedIn Groups and other professional associations to gauge your involvement in industry communities.
• Analyze your interactions with your connections, likes, comments, and shares to assess your level of engagement and influence.
• Look for any affiliations with professional organizations or societies listed on your profiles.
• Use LinkedIn to find connections with common educational backgrounds and track network growth.
• Identify mutual connections with industry leaders to understand your proximity to key influencers.

5. Building a Profile:

Investigators piece together your online activity to create a detailed profile of you. This involves analyzing your social media posts, online interactions, comments, likes, shares, and even the types of websites you visit. You might be surprised to learn that more than half of the internet traffic is generated through mobile devices, which is 53.3%.

They look for patterns in your behavior, the times you’re most active online, and the kind of content you engage with. Compiling all this data forms a comprehensive picture of your habits, interests, personality traits, and connections. It’s like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, where each piece of digital information helps complete the overall social image.

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Building a Profile:

• Investigators compile and analyze your social media activity across different platforms.
• They use software to assess your personality traits based on your online interactions.
• They also go through your browser history logs to track the types of websites you frequently visit.
• Digital investigators use public records through databases like Spokeo or Whitepages to gather additional background information.
• Measure your online engagement metrics, such as likes, shares, and comments, to determine your influence and activity level.
• The investigator also compiles all your social media profiles and public information into one comprehensive profile to create your digital profile map. 

6. Identifying Associates:

By looking at your interactions, investigators can see who you communicate with regularly. They scrutinize your social media posts, messages, comments, and any public interactions to map out your social network. This includes identifying frequent collaborators, friends, and professional contacts.

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Identifying Associates:

• Use tools and software to analyze your social network based on your online interactions.
• Review public interactions on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to identify frequent contacts.
• Extract metadata from emails and messages to uncover patterns in communication and frequent correspondents.
• Using online social media tools to monitor who you engage with most frequently on social media.
• Analyze your participation in online forums and groups to see who you communicate with regularly.
• Examine mutual connections on platforms like LinkedIn to identify common associates.
• They closely observe who frequently comments on or likes your posts to determine close contacts and associates.

7. Uncovering Hidden Information:

Sometimes, what you delete isn’t really gone. Investigators can retrieve deleted posts, emails, and messages. They use advanced forensic tools and techniques to recover this information from various digital devices and platforms. By digging into your digital footprints, even those you thought were erased, they can uncover critical details that were meant to stay hidden. This can include anything from deleted social media posts to emails and messages that you thought were permanently gone.

Tricks and Tools an Investigator Uses for Uncovering Hidden Information:

• Investigators use software to recover deleted files and analyze digital evidence.
• They use data recovery software to retrieve deleted emails, messages, and files from devices.
• Use tools to access archived versions of social media posts.
• Analyze email headers and metadata to recover and trace deleted emails.
• Recover cached web pages and delete online content using browser cache.
• They have certain tools and software to access backups and deleted files from cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.
• Use mobile forensic tools to extract deleted messages, call logs, and smartphone app data.
• Employ SQL forensic tools to restore and analyze deleted database records.
• Monitor network traffic and logs with tools to trace deleted or hidden activities.
• Uncover hidden data within images or files to reveal concealed information.

How to Protect and Reduce Your Digital Footprint

We’ve all heard that the internet never forgets, but did you know you can take steps to manage and reduce your digital footprints? While it may seem like everything you do online is stored on the internet, there are actually several effective strategies you can employ to control and minimize the information trail you leave behind.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce your digital footprint:

1. Go through all your social media accounts and set them to private. Only allow trusted friends and family to see your posts.
2. Before posting, consider if it’s something you’d be comfortable with everyone seeing, including future employers or strangers.
3.  If you have old accounts you no longer use (think MySpace, old forums, or outdated social media), delete them.
4. Avoid using search engines while logged into accounts that can track you. Use privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo.
5.  Use incognito or private browsing modes to prevent your browser from storing cookies and history. Also, clear your cookies and cache regularly.
6. Opt-out of data collection programs and marketing lists. Look for options to unsubscribe from unnecessary emails and marketing communications.
7. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your internet connection and mask your IP address.
8. Be cautious about sharing personal information like your address, phone number, and birthday online. Only provide the necessary details.
9. Regularly search your name online to see what information is available about you. Set up Google Alerts for your name to stay informed.
10. Use strong, unique passwords for each of your online accounts. Consider using a password manager to keep track.
11. Review the apps you have installed on your devices and the permissions they require. Delete any that you no longer use or that request too much access.

To Sum Up:

In a nutshell, digital footprints are a big deal. They shape your online reputation, affect your job prospects, keep you safe, give you control, and reflect your true self. So next time you’re about to post, share, or comment, remember: your digital footprints are more important than you think.