Privacy Maven

Your digital shadow has a life of its own. Literally.

The digital universe — the pile of digital information that includes everything from e-mail to YouTube videos — is growing faster than previously thought, according to a new study from the research firm IDC.

IDC now estimates that, at 281 exabytes, the digital universe in 2007 was 10 percent larger than the firm had projected a year ago. And the world’s assemblage of all things digital will grow at a compound yearly rate of 59 percent through 2011. That adds up to a tenfold jump over five years, to 1,800 exabytes. (Not that there is any real way to visualize it, but an exabyte — a billion gigabytes — is said to be 50,000 times larger than a digitized Library of Congress.)

Big numbers, sure, but not too surprising. Recent estimates of the growth of Internet traffic, for example, range from 50 to 100 percent a year.

But the intriguing finding was that all the ambient digital information about you — a person’s “digital shadow,” IDC calls it — now exceeds the digital information that you generate yourself by sending an e-mail, taking digital pictures, viewing a YouTube video, and so on.

Visit the EMC Web site to find this “digital shadow” study . The company has created a software application, the Personal Digital Footprint Calculator, which you can download and use to answer the question, “How fast is your digital universe expanding?” Equally fascinating — disturbing perhaps — is the Worldwide Information Growth Ticker.

In this video, John Gantz, Chief Research Officer, IDC discusses the study.

Dan Schawbel discussed the implications of the digital shadow for companies and others seeking to establish their brand. As with individuals, a company’s brand is, likewise, out of its hands.