Invisible trails: Navigating intersections of digital exhaust, trust, and privacy

IN the modern digital ecosystem, every click, search, swipe, and share generate a hidden byproduct - digital exhaust.

- By M. Dimuthu Suranjana

This byproduct, often unnoticed by users, forms the backbone of predictive algorithms, targeted advertising, and behavioural analytics. While the potential for innovation and personalisation is immense, it also raises critical concerns around digital trust and digital privacy. This article explores the intricate relationship between these three interconnected concepts and why understanding them is essential in the digital age.

What is digital exhaust?

Digital exhaust refers to the passive, often unintentional, data trails that individuals leave behind as they navigate the internet and use digital devices. This includes metadata, device usage patterns, location information, app logs, online behaviour, and much more.

Unlike active data input (like filling out a form), digital exhaust is collected in the background. For example:

■GPS tracking in mobile apps

■Web cookies tracking browsing activity

■Smart devices monitoring usage habits

This data, while not always personally identifiable on its own, can be aggregated and analysed to build detailed user profiles - often without the user's informed consent.

Cookies and the knowledge gap: How digital exhaust is collected

One of the most common forms of digital exhaust comes from web cookies - small text files stored on a user's device by websites. Understanding cookie categories and their implications is crucial to managing digital privacy:

■Essential cookies: Necessary for core website functionality (e.g., logging in, navigating pages).

■First-party cookies: Set by the website you're visiting; they store preferences and enhance usability.

■Third-party cookies: Set by external domains (like advertisers); used for cross-site tracking and targeted advertising.