Create Digital Footprint Wisely

JAKARTA - Although life in the digital world seems fictitious, the digital space also has the same ethics as the real space in our life. Therefore, it takes awareness of ethical behavior in the digital world, thus leaving a polite digital footprint.

However, if the digital footprint is bad, it can even harm a person's future. Often people underestimate the existence of digital traces, especially among young people. Therefore, digital traces must be taken seriously. Currently, digital traces are like a time bomb, which can explode at any time.

The Ministry of Communication and Information (Kominfo) discussed how aspects of security and wisdom in using social media are maintained in NGOBRAS or Chat with Legislators with the theme "Be Careful Digital Trace Record" on Friday, February 2, 2024.

According to H. Subarna, SE., M. As a member of Commission I of the Indonesian House of Representatives, the Indonesian people are not yet fully aware of security in the digital space. This can be seen that there are still many netizens who upload photos or videos without thinking about side effects. Not only that, leaving messages that contain hate speech are also still found in the digital space.

"If you are not careful in using social media, it can have a broad impact because it has the potential to be searched for and misused, so that it can affect a person's future," said Subarna.

Digital footprint on the internet can be used as material for studies and considerations in determining a person's career. In the US 60 percent of managers fail to provide jobs to prospective employees because they find digital traces of not being good on social media.

Not only that, Ir. Mochamad Hadiyana, M.Eng as the Expert Staff of the Minister of Technology added, the use of space if not careful can potentially become a crime. For this reason, efforts and strategies are needed to make digital literacy the medium of public learning to be digitally literate.

Among crimes that can occur in the digital space are bullying, the spread of pornography, hate speech, fake news or hoaxes, racism and radicalism. Digital track records can be easily found and vulnerable to being misused by hackers who can harm individuals and even the state because stability is threatened.

"For that, we need to protect digital devices by changing passwords, fingerprint authentication, and face authentication," said Hadiyana.

The public must also play an active role in maintaining the security of digital platforms so that personal information is not misused and causes chaos in the digital space. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a digital culture that applies positive values.

Aditya Iswandi as Visual Designer Entrepreneur said the digital footprint is a history of activities on the internet. The opportunity for digital traces to lead to negative acts is much higher, so concrete prevention steps are needed.

"Rethinking before uploading a content, by checking and checking. Digital footprint cannot be completely lost, so it is necessary to prioritize upload positive content," said Aditya.

He also added that not everything was uploaded on social media, so before uploading it, make sure people have sorted and chose wisely.