Social media today isn’t just about posts and likes. Many users aren’t aware that when they visit a website, open an app, or purchase something online, social media platforms can access information about certain activities. Companies say this is to show users personalized ads and improve their experience. But you can also prevent this.
Have you ever noticed that you look at a shoe or a phone on a website, and the next moment, its advertisement appears on your Facebook or Instagram? This is not a coincidence, but the result of your ‘spying’. In fact, today, social media is not limited to just posts and likes. Now it also monitors many of your activities. Because thousands of websites and apps share your data with Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram). The company says that its purpose is to show ads to users according to their preferences and improve the experience. But the best thing about it is that you can both view it and stop it.
What is “off-Facebook activity”?
When you visit apps or websites outside of Facebook, they send your information to Facebook through tools like “meta pixels.” This is called “off-Facebook activity.” This data helps Facebook show you ads that might be of interest to you.
How to find out which websites are sharing data?
This system isn’t completely hidden. Users have a way to see which activities from external apps or websites are linked to their accounts. Facebook has given users control over which websites are sending their information to Facebook. You can follow the steps below to do so.
Step 1. First of all, click on the three lines (menu) on the right side of your Facebook app and go to Settings & Privacy and select Settings.
Step 2. Now click on Accounts Center (Meta) visible at the top.
Step 3. Here you will find the option of Your information and permissions, tap on it.
Step 4. After this, click on Your activity of Meta technologies.
Step 5. Here in Recent activity, you will see a long list of all those apps and websites which have recently shared your data with Facebook.
If a user feels that too much information has been added, they can clear their activity history. This removes
the previously stored records. They can also prevent future additions of such information.
How to turn it off?
If you don’t want these websites to share your data in the future, you’ll find additional options on the same page to disable this. Follow the steps below.
Step 1. By clicking ‘Clear Previous Activity,’ you can delete all past data.
Step 2. The ‘ Disconnect Specific Activity’ option lets you select which specific websites’ data you don’t want to share.
Step 3. Go to the ‘Manage Future Activity’ option and turn on ‘Disconnect future activity.’ After this, Facebook will no longer be able to associate future data from these websites with your account.
These steps are essential for security.
Complete privacy is difficult in the digital world, but you can minimize the risk by managing your settings wisely. You can also strengthen your security by implementing hard, two-step verification and avoiding any unknown links.
