Through life, you make decisions online that affect the way others perceive the Digital You. People, businesses and even criminals will make decisions about you based on the digital footprint you leave behind.
With the turn of digital technology in the 21st century, the amount of information people leave online is growing. As younger generations emerge they are quickly subjected to the technology in this digital age. With it, their digital selves are beginning earlier than any generation before them and for some, it is happening before they are born.
In a Telegraph interview with the Children’s Commissioner of England, Ana Longfield revealed how a digital footprint begins in the womb when parents post a picture of their pregnancy scan.
“We need to stop and think about what this (increased data collection) means for children’s lives now and how it may impact on their future lives as adults. We simply do not know what the consequences of all this information about our children will be.”
The commissioner’s office released a report. The metrics within it detail how much data children and their parents are pouring online. According to the report, children will be in 1,300 photos on social media before they even create their own account(s) and begin posting for themselves.
The report raises concerns addressing how criminals and even governments could use this information. For example, criminals could use the addresses, names and ages in social posts to commit fraud in a child’s name. Some governments are already using apps to collect data on children’s behaviour.
Why it matters
As mentioned by Longfield, we don’t know what the effect of all this information could be on future generations.
Here at ScoresMatter, our goal is to help you tap into the Digital You. We show you how others perceive your data and give you the tools necessary to help you improve. As is the case with any educational experience, the knowledge you gain with our service is knowledge that you can use to teach the next generation.
Tap Into The Digital You at ScoresMatter.