Module 2 · Digital identity

Digital identity & e-reputation

Protecting your image and personal information online.

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Our digital identity: what are we talking about?

Your digital identity is everything that represents you on the internet: what you choose to show, and what you leave behind without meaning to.

Your accounts

Email, social media, apps: every sign-up leaves a digital footprint.

What you post

Photos, status updates, comments, places visited: every post leaves a lasting trace.

What you don’t see

GPS metadata in photos, location history, data collected by apps.

E-reputation

What people find about you by typing your name into Google. Check it regularly.

Hidden location in photos (EXIF)

Photos taken with a smartphone contain invisible GPS coordinates. Someone can find out exactly where the photo was taken, at what time and with which device.

  1. Android: Settings → Privacy → Permission manager → Location → Camera → Deny.
  2. iPhone: Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Camera → Never.
  3. Facebook automatically removes GPS metadata. WhatsApp, Telegram and many platforms don’t.
GPS position6.37° N · 2.43° EDate and timeSaturday, 09:41DeviceSmartphone

On: the photo keeps the exact position where it was taken.

Facebook privacy settings

  1. Who sees your posts: Profile → Edit profile → check each field.
  2. Privacy Checkup: Settings → Privacy → Privacy Checkup. Do it now.
  3. Who can look you up: Settings → Privacy → Who can look you up on Facebook → Friends only.
  4. Third-party apps: Settings → Apps and websites → remove unknown or unused apps.

Privacy on Instagram and TikTok

Instagram: private account

Profile → Edit profile → Switch to private account. Only your approved followers see your posts.

Instagram: activity

Settings → Security → Login activity: see all connected devices and log out unknown ones.

Audit your e-reputation

Knowing what can be found about you online is a concrete way to protect yourself.

  1. Open a private browsing window (Chrome: 3 dots → New incognito window) and type your first name + last name in quotation marks into Google.
  2. Look at the images in the results: are your photos circulating without your knowledge?
  3. To request the removal of an image: support.google.com → Remove information from Google → report the URL.
  4. Also type your phone number : is it linked to profiles you didn’t create?
AllImagesNews

Responding to online harassment

  1. Don’t reply, don’t argue, don’t negotiate.
  2. Capture the evidence : take dated screenshots before deleting or blocking anything.
  3. Block the abuser on the platform. He is not notified that he has been blocked.
  4. Report the content to the platform: Facebook (···) → Report / WhatsApp: press and hold the message → Report.
  5. Alert someone you trust and contact a support service if necessary.

Online identity theft

Recognise

A fake profile uses your photos and name to scam your contacts or harm you.

Report

Report the fake profile to the platform → “Identity theft” category.

File a complaint

Cotonou criminal investigation police, with screenshots of the fake profile.

Warn your contacts

Post a message on your real account to let people know the fake profile is not yours.

Your digital rights in Benin

  • Law 2017-20 on Benin’s Digital Code: protects personal data and penalises its illegal collection. The regulatory authority is the APDP.
  • Right to erasure: you can ask any organisation to delete the personal data it holds about you.
  • Online identity theft: is an offence punishable by prison and a fine under the Beninese Criminal Code.
  • Sharing intimate images without consent : a crime punishable under Beninese law. Filing a complaint also makes it possible to have the content removed.

End of module

Well done, shall we continue?

Next step: Financial scams.

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