If you use Facebook or Instagram regularly, you may have noticed prompts about your Link History settings. The feature allows users to track all the links they visit through Facebook and Instagram’s in-app browser.
According to Meta, this feature allows users to ensure they “never lose” a link. An in-app notification about the feature says: “Your Facebook browsing activity is now saved in one place, and you can easily return to recently visited links.”
However, as Gizmodo noted that the feature also provides Meta with a convenient way to improve its targeted advertising, following Apple’s crackdown on app tracking. “Please keep in mind that when link history is turned on, we may use link history information from Facebook mobile browsers to improve your ads across technologies,” the company said in a .
Instagram has a similar feature that monitors links users access through the app’s browser. While it seems many users are only now discovering these settings, a Meta spokesperson confirmed the features began rolling out last summer.
Although link history is not enabled by default, many people may choose this setting without thinking twice, especially since the company markets it as a way to avoid “lost” links. This has raised concerns among some privacy advocates, who worry that Meta is using increasingly sneaky ways to collect data about users’ online activities.
The good news, however, is that you can easily double-check whether link history is enabled and opt out if so.
users need to open the link from within the app and click … menu to open settings from the in-app browser. Then, look for the “Link History” switch. If it’s already on, you’ll need to close it and confirm in the pop-up that you want to disable it.
The process is pretty much the same: Go to your in-app browser’s settings, look for “Link History” and confirm your selection.
It’s worth noting that while both apps will delete your link history from their respective apps immediately, Meta says it can take up to 90 days to “complete the deletion process.” This means that your previous browsing activity may still play a role in your targeted advertising for several weeks after you disable link tracking.
Of course, the company still has other ways to control your online activity, so opting out of link history alone isn’t enough to fully take back control of your data. However, privacy-conscious, ad-hating folks living in the EU do have another option, although it may be less attractive. Meta recently began offering EU users the ability to completely opt out of Facebook and Instagram ads for a monthly fee.
This article was originally published on Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/opting-into-link-history-on-facebook-and-instagram-means-agreeing-to-more-ad-targeting-003746719.html?src= rss
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