Tech giants keeping tabs on users’ data is no surprise in today’s world. It’s a well-known fact thatFacebookcollects this data from its own as well as third-party apps. This third-party app tracking depends on the number of services signed up using Facebook login.
This article will discuss how Facebook collects your data, what kind of data it collects, and what it does with the same. Furthermore, we’ll also outline the steps you can take to disable Facebook from tracking your activities, prevent it from collecting your data, and restricting the “Off-Facebook Activity” feature.
What data is Facebook collecting and how?
The data hoarded by Facebook includes users’ screen time, which features they use, the number of times an app is opened, etc. On e-commerce apps, it knows a user’s purchase history, products wish-listed, contact and address, and more, as almost all of these apps have “Facebook Pixel” code on their website and mobile app.
What is Facebook Pixel?
Facebook Pixel is an analytics tool that tracks browsing behavior by capturing your identifier on the web. This captured data is then shared with Facebook, enabling it to show you “targeted ads.”
Off-Facebook Activity feature
Not to mention that Facebook loves to know everything about everyone, and you’re highly mistaken if you think banking apps will not share your data with Facebook.
Screenshots confirm data shared by banking apps with Facebook through its Off-Facebook Activity feature, which is surely alarming.
The tech giant claims that this collected summary of users’ web activity helps them sell accurate andtargeted ads. In other words, the number of apps for which you’ve signed up through Facebook login to save your precious time, you “pay” for this convenience with your data.
What’s further concerning is theshadow profilingthat Facebook does, collecting data of people who are not even on Facebook.
If you wish to protect yourself, you can take the steps mentioned in this article to limit the amount of data Facebook can collect from your account by disabling the Off-FacebookActivity feature.
How to Stop Facebook Tracking: Off-Facebook Activity
There are two ways through which you’re able to limit data sharing –
1. Stop Tracking Using Facebook mobile app
Take these steps to limit the data shared by third-party apps to Facebook:
2. Stop Facebook Tracking On Web Browser
Follow these steps on a web browser to disable the Off-Facebook Activity feature:
Clarification from Facebook
As Facebook confirms,“We receive activity from businesses and organizations who use our business tools so that can better understand how their website, app, or ads are performing. We use your activity to show you relevant ads and to suggest things you might be interested in.”
Facebook claims to be using the data for personalized ads. Meanwhile, they do not have a good track record concerning data security and how theyshare users’ data with third-parties.
Moreover, as Facebook owns WhatsApp and Instagram, it is easier for the tech giant to further profile an individual. However, if you wish to completely stop Facebook from tracking you, the extreme approach would be to give up these three apps.
In light of the facts discussed in the article, we recommend that you disable the Off-Facebook Activity feature to limit the data shared with Facebook.
