digital footprint
Americannoun
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one's unique set of digital activities, actions, and communications that leave a data trace on the internet or on a computer or other digital device and can identify the particular user or device.
Our online browsing habits are part of our passive digital footprint, created without our consent or knowledge, but our active digital footprint, especially on social media, can more easily be managed.
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one’s overall impact, impression, or effect as manifested on the internet; online presence or visibility, as of a person or company.
a celebrity with a large digital footprint;
ways to expand your brand’s digital footprint.
Etymology
Origin of digital footprint
First recorded in 1980–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Datadog’s “observability” software allows its customers to easily see what’s happening across an organization’s entire digital footprint: Cloud usage, applications, servers, databases, networks, security and more.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
The transformation is perhaps the most visible in defense’s growing digital footprint.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026
Some of Van Rootselaar’s digital footprint has already surfaced online.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026
“If there was a breach, it was not from Bret or Martha or the top editorial levels of the network and there is a sophisticated and extensive digital footprint of all editorial material,” they shared.
From Salon • Jan. 8, 2025
Similar to any online platform, limit your digital footprint.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2024
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
