Digital Technology Merit Badge
Nine requirements drawn so the backup device, the five separate permissions and the publishing condition on the blog and webpage routes are visible before a reader commits to any of them.
10 steps (32 parts inside them). 15 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Digital Technology Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 3 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 3 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.
The steps
Stage 1 of 10
1 step
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1. Watch the "Digital Safety" video, with a parent or guardian's permission Often forgotten Requirement
The Personal Safety Awareness "Digital Safety" video. It is requirement 1 of a badge that later has you use a search engine and open a secure site, and the order is deliberate.
THIS IS REQUIREMENT 1 FOR A REASON. It is the Personal Safety Awareness "Digital Safety" video, and requirement 5 then has you use a search engine and open a secure website. It also needs your parent or guardian's permission: the first of five separate times this badge asks for it.
Stage 2 of 10
1 step
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2. How digital technology changed, and where it is going Requirement
Two parts: a history compared against an older generation's experience, and a guess at the future.
Stage 3 of 10
1 step
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3. How digital things actually work, five explanations Requirement
Digitisation, compression, programming, device families and networks.
5 parts
Stage 4 of 10
1 step
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4. Software, malware, and three ways of encoding data Requirement
Four explanations, one of which is the security one.
Stage 5 of 10
1 step
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5. Going online, and two of these three need permission Often forgotten Requirement
Three parts. Two of them have you actually use the internet, and both say "with your parent or guardian's permission".
BOTH ONLINE PARTS NEED A PARENT OR GUARDIAN'S PERMISSION. 5(b) is the search engine and 5(c) is the secure website. Across the whole badge, permission is asked for five separate times: here twice, plus requirement 1, requirement 7(c) if the article is online, and requirement 9(a) if you interview somebody or visit. Getting all five agreed in one conversation at the start saves the badge stopping five times.
Stage 6 of 10
1 step
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6. THREE projects of eight, and every one gets backed up Often forgotten Requirement
The badge states the choice. It also states, once and above the options, that each completed project must be copied to a backup device and shared with your counselor.
EVERY PROJECT YOU COMPLETE HAS TO BE COPIED TO A BACKUP DEVICE. The badge states it once, in the sentence introducing the eight options, and never mentions it again inside any of them, which is exactly where a reader choosing between eight routes will read past it. It means a piece of hardware or an account: a USB stick, an external drive, a second computer, a cloud service. Decide which before you start, because three finished projects living on one laptop have not met requirement 6.
8 parts
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6(d). A presentation of at least five slides, topic approved first Optional May not apply Often forgotten
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6(g). A blog: five entries, two images, and approval BEFORE publishing Optional May not apply Often forgotten YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PUBLISH IT, BUT IF YOU DO, APPROVAL COMES FIRST. The requirement is met by a blog that never goes online. If you choose to publish, you must first share it with your parent or guardian AND your counselor AND get their approval. Both of them, and before it goes live rather than after.
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6(h). A webpage: three articles, two images, one link Optional May not apply Often forgotten THE SAME CONDITION AS THE BLOG. The webpage need not be posted to the internet. If you decide to post it, your parent or guardian and your counselor both have to see it and approve it first.
Stage 7 of 10
1 step
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7. Intellectual property: three protections, one rule, one case Requirement
Three parts, the last of which needs a parent or guardian's permission if the article is online.
Stage 8 of 10
1 step
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8. TWO of five on disposal, and two of the five are visits Often forgotten Requirement
The badge states the choice. Three routes are desk work; 8(d) and 8(e) are real places that need getting to.
TWO OF THESE FIVE ARE VISITS TO REAL PLACES. 8(d) is a recycling centre that handles digital hardware and 8(e) is a battery recycling centre, both need finding, getting to, and probably a lift. The other three need nothing but a browser and a conversation. The badge presents all five as equivalent; your calendar will not.
5 parts
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8(c). Find an organisation that collects discarded hardware, and what happens to it Optional May not apply
Stage 9 of 10
1 step
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9. A career, or a hobby or interest. Do ONE Requirement
The badge states the choice. Both are research and a discussion.
2 parts
Stage 10 of 10
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 9. A career, or a hobby or interest. Do ONE.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.