“Digital footprints”: What’s being left behind in the electronic world?

Businesses are increasingly being asked to reduce their “carbon footprint”. And while many customers are interested in doing business with organizations that are trying to reduce their carbon footprint, many customers are also concerned about their own “digital footprints“. 

The Discovery Channel has an interesting online tool that allows you to play a simple scenario by conducting your normal transactions as you would on any given day. Doing so shows you how often you provide your personal information to businesses and governments. You can then play the scenario again to try to reduce your digital footprint. Click here to play!

Businesses can help reduce their customer’s digital footprints by ensuring they only collect the personal information of customers necessary for the purposes identified by the organization and required for particular transactions. Additionally, businesses should avoid collecting personal information indiscriminately. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, reducing the volume of personal information that a business collects (and is then responsible for safeguarding and destroying in accordance with applicable privacy laws) helps customers to reduce their “digital footprints”.  It also helps businesses to comply with privacy laws like PIPEDA and improve customer relations.

Data “packrats” failing customers

Data “packrats” failing customers: Companies need policies on retention

My December 3, 2008 column in the Winnipeg Free Press details the problems businesses can get in to when they keep every single piece of information on their customers, even when they no longer need it.