Meta-owned Facebook has often made headlines for tracking users’ data in order to suggest better ads. The company has, on more than one occasion, been accused of invading users’ privacy by using their data without their consent. And now, Facebook has introduced a new feature called “Link History” in its mobile app. This feature lets you opt out of sharing your browsing activity record with the company. The feature was announced by the social media platform in a blog post.
By default, the feature is activated on your devices, which means that Facebook keeps a record of all the links you click. This information is used for personalized ads. However, users can now choose to opt-out from this service. Facebook, on the other hand, claims that this is a handy tool to save your browsing activity in one place, ensuring you never lose a link. If you allow Link History by letting is stay enabled by default, Facebook may use your data to improve ads across its platforms.
Facebook tracks all links you visit
The blog post by Facebook explains that Link History is a compilation of websites visited on the Facebook Mobile Browser within the last 30 days. Users have the option to activate or deactivate Link History at any time. When Link History is activated, the links accessed within Facebook’s Mobile Browser are stored for 30 days, excluding links from Messenger chats that with Link History turned on, information from Facebook’s Mobile Browser may be utilized to enhance advertisements across Meta technologies, as detailed in the Privacy Policy.
Meanwhile, if you turn off the setting, Facebook promises to delete your Link History within 90 days. It is to be noted that the feature is not available everywhere yet and will be rolled out globally over time.
How to turn Link History off
To turn the Link History off, users can follow these simple steps:
- Open Facebook’s Mobile Browser by tapping any link within the Facebook app.
- Click on more actions in the bottom right
- Now, select Browser settings.
- To disable Link History, switch on the option next to Allow link history and confirm by tapping Don’t allow.
In other words…
Beyond just being together, Facebook’s algorithm compares your interests, demographics, places you’ve been, groups you’re a part of, hashtags you follow (the list goes on) to that of your friend. If you and your friend are similar, and the friend has already left a trail of breadcrumbs to that product, then Facebook will serve you up an ad to see if you feel the same.
Fueling the algorithm
So what about those times when you just think about something, and then you see an ad?
It can be difficult to wrap your head around, but it likely is less of a coincidence than you think. Any piece of information Facebook picked up (even just semi-related to the thought), either before or after your thought, could have led to the ad being served.
Every move you make online fuels Facebook’s algorithm. Engaging with a post, liking a person’s photo, or even using your Facebook account to sign in to another online service are all examples of this.
Essentially, a complex algorithm is “listening” to us, just not using microphones.
