[FAQ]

I’m getting a little creeped out. I was just Browse a shoe store’s website—not through Facebook, just on my normal web browser—and about ten minutes later an ad for the exact pair of shoes I was looking at showed up in my Facebook feed.

I know this is how it works, but I don’t like it. I’m sure I read somewhere that there’s a setting to see which websites are reporting back to Facebook and to turn it off, but I can’t for the life of me find it in the settings menu. Does anyone know what this feature is called and the exact steps to disable it? Thanks.

[Jeff Bullas]

Taking control of your data is a crucial step.

The Direct Answer: The feature you’re looking for is called ‘Your activity off Meta technologies’, and it allows you to clear past data and disconnect future tracking from your account.

This data is primarily used to decide which content formats, such as video or image ads, are most relevant to show you.

To find this tool, go to your main ‘Settings & Privacy’ menu, select ‘Settings’, then look for a permissions section often called ‘Your information’ to find the option to manage your activity off Meta technologies. Inside, you can view the list and clear your past activity, which tells Meta to dissociate that history from your account. More importantly, you can manage and disconnect your future activity. This prevents Meta from using data sent by other websites to personalise the ads you see. You will still see the same number of ads, but they will no longer be targeted based on the specific text and image content you viewed on those external sites.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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