What Is a Social Media Footprint and Why It Matters

What Is a Social Media Footprint and Why It Matters

Digital Footprint

Definition of Social Media Footprint A social media footprint is the sum of all the activity, content, and data linked to your presence on social platforms. Every comment, like, share, video upload, private message, profile update, and even your connections contribute to this footprint. Some of it is public and easy for others to find. […]

8/29/2025
ID Verification on YouTube (2025): What It Is, Why It’s Here, and How Australian & UK Laws Are Driving It

ID Verification on YouTube (2025): What It Is, Why It’s Here, and How Australian & UK Laws Are Driving It

AI

TL;DR – YouTube is expanding age checks for viewers and tightening identity checks for creators. The UK’s Online Safety Act and Australia’s new under-16 social-media rules are the big levers forcing platforms toward “highly effective age assurance” (read: ID, credit card, or selfie verification). Read on for details about the changes, and how you can […]

8/11/2025
Major Data Breach Hits Women’s Dating Safety App Tea, Exposing Thousands of User Photos and IDs

Major Data Breach Hits Women’s Dating Safety App Tea, Exposing Thousands of User Photos and IDs

Data Privacy

In a significant blow to user privacy, the popular women’s dating safety app Tea has suffered a massive data breach, resulting in the leak of approximately 72,000 user images, including sensitive verification selfies and government-issued IDs. The breach, first reported in late July 2025, has raised serious concerns about the security of personal data on […]

7/25/2025
Meta’s Hidden Photo Scan Explained + 3 Steps to Secure Your Camera Roll

Meta’s Hidden Photo Scan Explained + 3 Steps to Secure Your Camera Roll

Meta

Meta has redefined the boundaries of digital consent – again.  Facebook has started testing a sneaky feature that scans your private photos from your phone’s camera roll. They disguise this under the name of “creative suggestions powered by Meta AI”. While the tech giant claims this feature is optional, the implications are more sinister for […]

7/16/2025
U.S Social Media Screening Mandate for Student Visa Applicants

U.S Social Media Screening Mandate for Student Visa Applicants

Social Media

All foreign nationals applying for student and educational visas must now undergo social media and online presence vetting. According to a leaked cable obtained by POLITICO, consular officers are now directed to scour the internet for signs of what they deem as “hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United […]

6/19/2025
Meet the Airline-Owned Data Broker Selling Over 50% of Flight Data to ICE

Meet the Airline-Owned Data Broker Selling Over 50% of Flight Data to ICE

Business

Delta, United, and American Airlines have probably sold your itinerary, credit card info, and your movements to Homeland Security and ICE. Major U.S. airlines are acting as data brokers, selling your data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 404 Media acquired a contract that indicated an airline-owned data […]

6/18/2025
How Public Personal Info Helped the Minnesota Shooter Target His Victims

How Public Personal Info Helped the Minnesota Shooter Target His Victims

Data Brokers

On June 14, 2025, Minnesota witnessed a harrowing act of political violence when Vance Luther Boelter, a 57-year-old former gubernatorial appointee, fatally shot State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Boelter, disguised as a police officer, carried out these attacks at the victims’ homes […]

6/17/2025