Are you aware that Facebook, Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been tracking everything you do online? May it be the products you shop for, the porn you watch or political candidates you support, it tracks it all! The social media achieves that by using small piece of code placed in most of the websites online called the Facebook Pixel.
The working mechanism of the feature
Facebook has various uses for the information it gets from you and the rest of the internet users. The most important one is the targeting of users with personalized ads. This is one of the most recent and profitable business models around the globe. In fact, it is worth billions of dollars for those that conduct it well.
However, matters are no longer looking so good for the business model of late. That is because lawmakers, privacy advocates and pundits are up scrutinizing every aspect of all such business endeavors. These groups have been questioning users over why they should invest so much trust in the social media with their data.
Facebook keeps its promise
Last year, Facebook revealed that it had plans underway to empower the users more. The social media guru had promised to give its users more control over their data. To achieve the objective, it would introduce a “clear history” tool. This would be a tool with enhanced capabilities of deleting the off-platform browsing records of the users.
It is now a year down the line and the social media leader is true to its word. It is introducing the feature named “Off-Facebook Activity.”This is going to be a gradual activity and the purpose is to weigh on the reception and the performance of the tool. The company begins the exercise in three countries and these are Ireland, South Korea, and Spain. The users in these countries will enjoy it first before it eventually gets rolled out to the rest of the countries globally.
An official working with Facebook outlines that the company will push it in other countries in a matter of months.
The new tool will let you see a summary of the third-party apps and websites that share your information with Facebook. You will be in a position to delete them if you wish to do so. You will also be able to bar the company from using your browsing history if you also wish to do so.
