A digital identity is an information on an entity used by computer systems to represent an external agent. It is essentially any personal data existing online that can be traced back to the real you.
The information contained in a digital identity allows for assessment and authentication of a user interacting with a business system on the web, without the involvement of human operators. Digital identities allow our access to computers and the services they provide to be automated, and make it possible for computers to mediate relationships.
The term “digital identity” also denotes certain aspects of civil and personal identity that have resulted from the widespread use of identity information to represent people in an acceptable trusted digital format in computer systems.
Digital identities are here to stay. As long as your online Doppelganger exists, there will always be someone hoping to exploit it. However, there’s good news: you can take a few steps right now to quickly and easily decrease the chances of that ever happening.
Taking Control Of Your Digital Identity
- Change to a search engine that respects privacy. Avast Secure Browser comes with advanced security that’s built directly into your browser, allowing you to browse, shop, and bank safely on any website while protecting your privacy.
- Protect your passwords using password managers. Simply put, password managers put strong encryption on your passwords and allow you to manage them in one place. In addition to several other cool things they offer, there’s an audit feature that checks for weak, duplicate, and old passwords.
- Always use a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) is software that establishes a secure connection between you and the server. Information moving between this connection is encrypted and cannot be read by your ISP. While this is a great start to concealing your browsing activities from your ISP, it does not hide the fact that you’re using a VPN. You can push that level of concealment even further if you use Avast Secure Browser’s built-in mobile VPN which makes itself appear to be just an ordinary site. Shout out to our engineering team for that one!
