Facebook has taken one more step towards providing better (not the best though) privacy to their users. They have now introduced more options for users to see which and what websites share users’ information with Facebook. Facebook will roll-out this ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ control to users gradually.
Managing Off-Facebook Activity
According to a recent blog post by two Facebook officials, Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer, Policy, and David Baser, Director of Product Management, Facebook is introducing ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ control to the users. With this feature, users can manage websites sharing their information with Facebook.
Describing the new feature, Facebook stated,
Off-Facebook Activity lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that send us information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to.
Specifically, when a user turns off this feature, Facebook will remove the identifying details from the data the apps and websites share with it. Users can see all the apps and sites sharing data with Facebook, and can limit one or all of them from such sharing.
We won’t know which websites you visited or what you did there, and we won’t use any of the data you disconnect to target ads to you on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger.
Officials explain that they have developed this feature from scratch.
Since Off-Facebook Activity is a new kind of tool, there was no template for us to follow. Our engineering teams redesigned our systems and built a new way for them to process information.
Facebook further elaborates that it has taken this decision after taking input from various sources, including advertisers, policymakers, and industry groups.
Users can learn more about this feature here.
No History Deletion Though…
Facebook first hinted about this feature last year at the F8 conference. At that time, they announced rolling out a feature named ‘Clear History’. However, the details now reveal that there is no specific ‘clearing’ of history. Rather Facebook will simply let the users ‘disconnect’ the information from their accounts for some or all websites and apps.
Facebook is rolling out this feature progressively, launching it first to the users in Ireland, South Korea, and Spain. Whereas the rest of the countries will have this feature available in a few months.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.