Meanings
- uncountableInformation created by a person using the Internet or other digital activities, especially when used for commercial purposes.
Even your “digital exhaust”, such as search requests and browsing history, is often recorded by companies who want to target you with personalised advertising.
2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist2 more examples
The trusted advisor, with our permission, can simply watch and analyze the “digital exhaust” from our activities to develop deep insight into who we are and what is important to us.
2016, Clara Shih, The Social Business Imperative […] , Prentice Hall, →ISBNWho would dare to redefine “digital exhaust” as booty or contraband, or imagine that Google had learned how to purposefully construct that so-called “exhaust” with its methods, apparatus, and data structures?
2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 3, in The Age of Surveillance CapitalismSynonyms: data exhaust, digital footprint
Synonyms & antonyms
nounInformation created by a person using the Internet or other digital activities, especially when used for commercial purposes.
Cite this entry
digital exhaust. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/digital%20exhaust
“digital exhaust.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/digital%20exhaust. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “digital exhaust,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/digital%20exhaust.
Source: digital exhaust on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.