Standard Digital Precautions: Your Practical Guide for Navigating Today's Digital Terrain
- Eric Kerr
- May 11
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 4
Originally published on August 14, 2024; Revised on May 10, 2025
In an era of information overload and digital risks, I offer five fundamental practices that will transform how you interact online. Whether you're a casual internet user or a tech professional, these simple precautions will help you become a more responsible digital citizen.
AI may have amplified existing problems, but at the end of the day, we are the ones shaping the digital world—through what we share, how we interact, and the standards we uphold.
Once an expansive information highway, the internet has evolved into a congested stretch of road riddled with potholes and billboards as far as the eye can see.
While we wait for someone to deal with the crumbling infrastructure, we will need to protect ourselves and the other drivers sharing the road.
Each of us has a responsibility to be better digital citizens.
This involves actively participating in the digital world in a respectful, ethical, and knowledgeable manner.
It's about being aware of what you're consuming and—I think this is critical—what you are putting out into the digital world.
You don't need to become an information security expert or even a vibe-coder, but you should at least understand how to minimize data exposure, critically assess sources, manage emotional responses online, advocate for corporate transparency, and seek innovative solutions.
To consistently navigate these digital risks, we can borrow an approach from healthcare: Just as healthcare workers use standard precautions—universal protocols applied consistently to minimize infectious risks—we need similar strategies for digital interactions.
In the digital world, we must adopt the same approach: treating every online interaction with consistent care, regardless of its apparent safety. These five precautions help us navigate the digital landscape with the same systematic, protective mindset.
Translating this to the digital realm, here are five ways you can protect yourself and others by engaging every online interaction with the same level of caution and care.
The 5 Standard Digital Precautions
1. Be Curious
The internet is a vast digital landscape that can take you anywhere you want to go. Instead of seeking the familiar or getting lost in algorithmic distraction and misinformation, let curiosity be your guide.
Treat every online interaction and digital touchpoint with curiosity, instead of knee-jerk reactions or assumptions.
Challenge your assumptions by asking What questions:
"What is the source of this information?"
"What is the intent of the person behind this content?"
"What if this were true? What if it wasn't?"
"What would it mean to share this?"
2. Verify Before You Trust
The internet will always provide content that confirms your existing beliefs—that's how it's designed. Just because it feels true doesn't mean it is.
Before trusting any information:
Cross-reference with established sources
Check the date and context
Look for original sources rather than commentary
Consider who benefits from you believing this information
Check out this short example, produced by The Dor Brothers, using generative AI.
3. Give it a Beat
Technology has rewired us for impulsive reactions, but every digital action—every like, share, purchase, block, or report—leaves a permanent trace. Before you click:
Count to ten
Ask yourself "Why am I really sharing this?"
Consider how this might look in a week, a month, a year
Think about who might be impacted downstream
The internet never forgets. Make your digital footprint intentional.
4. Check Yourself
It's easy to get worked up online. Algorithms are programmed to curate our online experience, finding patterns in our online behavior, recognizing our biases, tugging at our emotions, and using this data to keep us engaged.
Be especially wary of chatbots and AI interfaces designed to mimic human empathy.
These systems are engineered to trigger emotional responses, potentially exploiting psychological vulnerabilities.
They can:
Simulate understanding and emotional connection
Adapt conversation styles to keep you engaged
Present seemingly personalized interactions that feel intimate
Manipulate your emotional state through carefully crafted language
If you start getting frustrated, angry, or overwhelmed by some post, online troll, or AI interaction, take a pause.
Seriously, phone down, hands up! Take a breath.
What triggered you? What challenged you? What ignited something in you? How did that happen? Could you recognize it if it were to happen again?
The anonymous profile, the doom scrolling rage bait, and divisive content do not deserve your attention. You're better off going for a walk.
No matter how convincing, these are algorithmic interactions programmed to elicit specific reactions. Your emotional well-being is more important than any artificial interaction.
5. Consent is Sexy
Your data is valuable currency—don't give it away lightly.
Companies offer convenience and personalization, but there's always a hidden cost: your privacy.
Protect yourself by being intentional and informed about how your data is used.
Understand Terms and Conditions: Before signing up for an app or service, carefully review what personal information you're sharing and how it will be used.
Copy and paste Terms and Conditions into an LLM like Claude or ChatGPT to quickly spot potential privacy concerns, identify red flags, and understand what you're agreeing to.
Protect Your Biometric Data: Limit sharing sensitive biometric identifiers like your face, voice, fingerprints, and retina scans. Once compromised, these can't be changed like a password.
Avoid using facial recognition to unlock your phone; use a strong passcode instead. TSA facial scans at airports are voluntary—you have the right to opt out.
Respect Others' Privacy: Never share images, videos, or personal information of others without explicit consent—every single time. Previous consent doesn't grant perpetual permission.
Confirm consent explicitly every time you share someone else's personal information or images, especially when generating AI content.
Opt Out of Tracking: Regularly audit your digital footprint and actively opt out of tracking both online and offline whenever possible.
Use a reputable password manager and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your online accounts.
You Are the Human in the Loop
The internet isn't going to fix itself, and neither is our approach to digital engagement. AI may amplify existing problems, but at the end of the day, we are the ones shaping the digital world—through what we share, how we interact, and the standards we uphold.
Being a responsible digital citizen isn't about perfection; it's about awareness, intention, and accountability.
Small choices, like questioning sources, pausing before reacting, and safeguarding personal data, add up.
The tools to navigate this space exist. The real question is: will we use them?
BONUS
Questions for Critical Thinkers
We must be critical thinkers as we navigate the digital landscape, overflowing with noise, misinformation, and slop.
Here are 5 essential questions, adapted from The Futility of Trying to Teach Everything of Importance (1989) by Grant Wiggins, to help you suss out the facts from fiction.
The 5 Questions
Whose voice am I hearing? From where is the statement or image coming? What's the point of view?
What is the evidence? How do we know? How credible is the evidence?
How do things fit together? What else do I know that fits with this?
What if? Could it have been otherwise? Are there alternatives?
What difference does it make? Who cares? Why should I care?
Eric Kerr works at the intersection of creativity, generative AI, and neurodivergent experience.
As an integrative coach he turns complexity into clear action, pairing lived insight with 1,800+ hours of AI practice.
As an artist and writer he questions what it means to create in a culture chasing linear output. A Human in the Loop is his running dialogue between human intuition and machine possibility.
Stay in the loop → follow on Medium or connect at ahumanintheloop.ai.
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