← Years 9–10 Data & Information

Managing and reducing your digital footprint

Searching your own name, deleting old accounts and posts, tightening privacy settings and limiting app permissions to shrink your footprint, though copies others made may remain.

Part of: 9-10 Digital Technologies: Data privacy and the Australian Privacy Principles — Module 21, ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Privacy Principles and Digital Footprints — Module 44

Understanding Managing and reducing your digital footprint in Years 9–10 Data & Information

What it does: Setting location permission to deny stops the app collecting where you are, which limits new data added to your footprint. Changing who can see your posts from public to friends only reduces how much of your footprint strangers can find. Searching your own name shows what others can find, so you can decide what to remove or lock down. Copies made by others, such as screenshots and reposts, can remain even after you delete the original. If you control the content, you can delete it or restrict it. Search results update over time once it is removed.

Common mistakes: The loop should go through the search results, not the name. Searching your own name gives you a list of results to review, so it should be FOR EACH item IN results. The test is the wrong way round. It would delete accounts that were used recently. Only accounts unused for more than 3 years should be deleted, so it should be IF lastLogin > 3 THEN.

Class: _____________________  ·  Name: _____________________  ·  Date: _________

Free printable worksheet with full answer key — or add this module to a class and your students practise it interactively.

🖨 Print worksheet + answer key Add Managing and reducing your digital footprint to a class →

This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 83–132) and word search (Modules 6–132).

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Each concept is reinforced from every angle — learned, then applied, then tested.

Learning
Duo
You want to see what strangers can find about you online. What is a good first step?
Wait until someone posts something about youSearch for your own name in a search engine
Matches
delete_post("photo") print("Gone from everywhere!")
↓
Deleting a post does not guarantee it is gone everywhere. Others may have saved, screenshotted or shared copies that remain.
Applying
Meanings
Term
digital footprint management
Meaning
Searching your own name, deleting old accounts and posts, tightening privacy settings and limiting app permissions to shrink your footprint, though copies others made may remain.
Practice
SEARCH my own name online
Testing
Gaps
("Jess Nguyen photos")
Check Answer
Spots
2results ← search(name)
3FOR EACH item IN name

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Quick Questions

1. You want to see what strangers can find about you online. What is a good first step?
A. Wait until someone posts something about you
B. Search for your own name in a search engine ✓
Searching your own name shows what others can find, so you can decide what to remove or lock down.
2. You haven't used an old gaming account for three years. What helps reduce your digital footprint?
A. Delete the account ✓
B. Leave it open because it is not being used
Old accounts still store your data and can be hacked or leaked. Deleting them shrinks your footprint.
3. A torch app asks for access to your contacts and location. What is the best choice?
A. Deny permissions the app does not need to work ✓
B. Allow everything so the app works properly
A torch app does not need your contacts or location. Limiting app permissions limits the data collected about you.
4. You delete a photo you posted last year. A friend had already saved a copy. Which statement is true?
A. The copy your friend saved may still exist ✓
B. Deleting it removes every copy everywhere
Copies made by others, such as screenshots and reposts, can remain even after you delete the original.
5. Which action tightens your privacy settings?
A. Adding your phone number to your public bio
B. Changing your profile from public to friends only ✓
Restricting who can see your posts reduces how much of your footprint is visible to strangers.

Match the Pairs

search("Your Full Name") → Searching your own name to see what others can find about you online
delete_account("old_game_forum") → Deleting an old account you no longer use so it stops holding your data
Limiting app permissions so an app cannot access your location → permissions.location = "deny"
Tightening privacy settings so only friends can see your posts → privacy.posts = "friends_only"
delete_post("photo") print("Gone from everywhere!") → Deleting a post does not guarantee it is gone everywhere. Others may have saved, screenshotted or shared copies that remain.
search("Your Full Name") print("Footprint managed!") → Searching your name only shows what is there. It does not reduce anything until you delete or hide what you find.

Key Term

digital footprint management
Searching your own name, deleting old accounts and posts, tightening privacy settings and limiting app permissions to shrink your footprint, though copies others made may remain.

Fill in the Blanks

1. search("Jess Nguyen photos")
Hint: Type the command that looks your own name up online to see what others can find.
2. delete(account, OldGameSite)
Hint: Type the command that removes an old account you no longer use.
3. setPermission(location, off)
Hint: Type the setting value that stops the app from using your location.
4. setPrivacy(profile, private)
Hint: Type the privacy level that hides your profile from strangers.
5. deletePost(partyPhoto) IF copySaved = true THEN askToRemove(friend)
Hint: Type the function that asks another person to take down the copy they saved.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A name ← "Sam Lee"
B results ← search(name)
C FOR EACH item IN name
D PRINT item
Line C — The loop should go through the search results, not the name. Searching your own name gives you a list of results to review, so it should be FOR EACH item IN results.
Question 2
A lastLogin ← 4
B IF lastLogin < 3 THEN
C deleteAccount()
D END IF
Line B — The test is the wrong way round. It would delete accounts that were used recently. Only accounts unused for more than 3 years should be deleted, so it should be IF lastLogin > 3 THEN.
Question 3
A permission ← location
B IF appNeedsIt = FALSE THEN
C turnOff(permission)
Line A — The text "location" needs quotation marks. Without them the computer looks for a variable called location that doesn't exist. It should be permission ← "location".
Question 4
A FOR EACH app IN apps
B needs ← app.needsMic
C IF needs = TRUE THEN
D revoke(app, "microphone")
Line C — This would take the microphone permission away from apps that need it. Limiting permissions means revoking access only when the app does not need it, so it should be IF needs = FALSE THEN.
Question 5
A profile.visibility ← "friends"
B profile.shareLocation ← TRUE
C profile.tagReview ← TRUE
Line B — Tightening privacy settings means switching location sharing off. Setting it to TRUE shares more data. It should be profile.shareLocation ← FALSE.

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