Welcome to Digital Footprints, module four.

In this module, we will investigate whether our digital footprints are a

problem that we should be concerned about.

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One of the Internet Society's core tenets is about maximising the

economic and social value of the Internet.

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One of the side effects of digital footprints is a loss of privacy and

anonymity online. From the Internet Society's broader perspective, this

undermines the social value of the Internet.

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As we participate in various Internet activities, we leave behind evidence

of what we’ve done, where we’ve been, what we’ve been thinking, who

our friends and families are, and more. These footprints build up over

time, and can become enormous.

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The implicit footprints we leave behind also can be used to track us, and

to link information we have shared, in one context, into a larger and

more complete profile that extends across the contextual boundaries of

what we do online. The privacy implications of linkability are profound,

because online linkability challenges some of our fundamental

assumptions about how we preserve our privacy in the offline world.

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In an era of “big data” analytics, organizations—not just governments—

are able to analyze huge amounts of data from our footprints and link it

across multiple contexts.

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When an advertisement pops up on a web page for an object

researched two days ago on a different site, it's a sign that someone has

been sharing our activities with the advertiser. If we expected those two

contexts to be separate, we are likely to feel that our privacy has been

violated.

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers everyone a “right

to privacy,” but there is no universal agreement how privacy works

on the Internet.

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Privacy, like other human rights, is a social convention – and a subtle and

complex one, at that.

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The technology of online service delivery is still an immature and

unwieldy way to express those subtleties in our digital lives.

Although the Internet and its associated commercial services happen to

have developed in a particular way there is scope – and a pressing

need – for improvement.

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In addition to privacy, there are other, related areas in which individuals'

interests are potentially put at risk because of their digital footprints. One

such area is anonymity; individuals may have a legitimate interest in

going online without being obliged to identify themselves.

It takes very little information to tear the veil of anonymity. The linkages

between digital footprints, IP addresses, phone numbers, e-commerce,

and

on-line activities all make it possible to ascribe “anonymous” actions to a

real-world identity.

These links can often be made by parties whose activities run counter to

the legitimate interests of the individual trying to remain anonymous.

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It's not just about advertising. When footprints are shared between on-

line merchants for advertising purposes, the violation of privacy and

reduction in anonymity might generally be little more than an

annoyance. However, the same data can be used for more malicious

purposes - whether financial, criminal or official. Once data can be

linked and matched to a specific identity, then there is a real risk that on-

line activities can have damaging consequences for the individual in

question.

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As well as its potential impact on specific individuals, the loss of privacy and anonymity…

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….has a broader effect in the Internet at large. It reduces public trust in

the Internet, inhibits freedom of expression and freedom of action in the

online domain, and diminishes the Internet as an economic and social

asset for everyone.

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Congratulations! You have completed Digital Footprints module four Are

Digital Footprints a Problem.

Remember, you can always find more information, whitepapers and

other training modules via the Internet Society's Identity and Privacy

pages.

http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/internet-technology-

matters/privacy-identity

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