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Are we leaving more digital footprints during coronavirus lockdown?

NoidaWritten By: Ankit TutejaUpdated: May 14, 2020, 05:58 PM IST
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Internet addiction Photograph:(Others)

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We are successfully maintaining social distancing - but at a cost - and that price is our digital footprints. 

Most of us are stuck inside our home, we can’t hang out with friends, we can’t step out to shop, we can’t plan a get together with cousins. Like responsible people, we are successfully maintaining social distancing - but at a cost - and that price is our digital footprints. 

Being locked inside the house, we are exposing ourselves to the online world a lot more.

For instance, we are surfing online more and our search queries directly reflect on our interests which remain documented on the internet.

In fact, by now many of you, must have shown your entire house in various videos and in casual selfies. 

Our social media engagement has gone up. These days, we are giving more information about us online, but are we doing that responsibly? Probably, no.

And we have no idea, how and when these online details could be misused by miscreants because digital footprints stay forever. 

Therefore, along with social distancing, we need to maintain information distancing as well. But how? Here are some handy tips that can help you achieve that:

1. Be mindful of what you share. Just because there is no limit to what you can post online, doesn’t mean that you should be documenting online everything you do. It’s a big no! Be wise and exercise your judgement so that you don’t end up sharing too much personal details.

2. While recording videos at home or attending a video conference, be wary of what’s in the background. Your home is your personal space and the online world shouldn’t get a virtual tour of your house.

3. For sensitive and confidential information, switch to private browsing. It prevents the browser from remembering your activity. For instance, the browser won't save your search history or permissions you give to websites. 

4. Be extra careful when transacting online. Avoid using a browser for banking. Always use native banking apps for internet banking as those apps come from trusted providers. And, therefore, they are more secure.

5. Many of you must have downloaded more games on your mobile during the lockdown. But did you read the permissions before installing those apps? Go back to those apps and check. If these are asking for more permissions than required to play a game, uninstall them.

Be careful of what you share, how you share and when you share. You need to be responsible even when sharing data online. Because data is the new currency. So, stay safe and practice information distancing along with social distancing.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)