What is Digital Exhaust?
In this blog I will attempt to give a very brief overview of what digital exhaust is.
Odd pairing of words for me this one. One meaning something intangible and IT related and the other very mechanical and quite a dirty word. When I think of exhaust I see it like a car discarding all the rubbish in its system it does not need.
So what is it? Well to explain it best I will try and compare it best to a well know children's story Hansel and Gretel.
In the story of Hansel and Gretel when the children are taken into woods to be left to die they find there way home as they left a trail of white pebbles on their journey in order to trace them back and find their way home.
Now whether you realise it or not you are leaving little white pebbles all around the internet that with some clever algorithms can all be traced back to you.
There are some experiments being done by ethical data scientist that show people exactly what the internet can tell anyone with the knowledge and the right tools about them.
Some incredible results come up. We forget what data we give all kinds of websites and companies.
So digital exhaust is the residue you leave behind on your digital travels. Little bits of information about you that could be all put together.
For example, did you ever create a Myspace account? They were pretty public right, and i am guessing pretty embarrassing too? Did you delete it? What about Faceparty? Did you have an online gaming profile? Old dating sites? Maybe entries into online forums? (Let me know if you found anything)
I can tell you, it is amazing what information is left behind.
So what can you and should you do about it? You could go and delete old accounts if you really wish, but it is quite unlikely people are going to be searching for it.
My advice would be just to be aware of it, think about what information you are giving any website or social platform about yourself and check what your privacy settings are set too.
Most modern sites like Facebook are much better at making the privacy settings available, however most people do not check them. Also older platforms hardly ever offered you any of privacy options.
I am not suggesting anyone is going to do anything harmful with your information nor that people have anything to hide. This is more an awareness piece.
So I hope this was useful and explains in very basic terms what data exhaust is. I am sure there are far more detailed explanations.
No I am sure you are going to have a little peek at some old accounts or this blog may have triggered some old memories that will make you smile. 🙂
Let me know what you remembered or found?
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Author- Speaker - Consultant. Passionate about all things digital.