Meta Tracks Everything You Do Online By Default
It’s no secret that Meta (Facebook, Instagram) tracks what you do online to give you “tailored” ads while using their platforms. Have you ever wondered why you see specific ads or recommendations? Today’s post will go over the Meta settings you need to review and turn off/delete.
Meta Tracking Goes Beyond Annoying Ads
For starters, yes, the ads you see can get annoying. It can also get creepy when you start seeing ads for things that you have never posted on Facebook or Instagram. You go to a car dealer site, looking for a car, then Facebook shows you car deal ads. You look up a life insurance page, and suddenly your Facebook and Instagram feeds are flooded with ads and posts about life insurance. There are so many examples of Meta knowing about you, even when you haven’t directly told Meta, and that should bother you. If not, the fact that Meta profits from showing you these ads/recommendations you didn’t ask for should bother you.
In addition, data breaches at tech companies are one of the most common ways scammers get data that can be used in identity theft and phishing. So information you did not willingly share with a company, and you may not even realize has been shared, may then get used against you. That is one of the biggest reasons it is important you realize and understand what information is being shared or acquired about you. Meta
What Meta Settings Should You Review
To view your off-Facebook activity that Meta is tracking, so you can review and clear it, follow these steps:
- Sign in to Facebook on the web
- Click on the circular profile picture (usually on the top right)
- On the window that opens, select Settings & Privacy -> then select Your Account
- Now select “Your Information and Permissions“
In this section, you will want to check
- Search History -> Click the prompt with your profile. What shows is what you have typed in the FB search box. Remove anything you don’t want used against you later as part of ads or recommendations by clicking the X next to each item.
- You can also select how long to keep history in the profile prompt. The default is always; you can select as little as 3 days.
- Now go back to Your Information and Permissions, and select Activity from other businesses. Here, you want to make sure to select Don’t allow us to use this activity to show you relevant content
- Now go back to Your Information and Permissions settings and select App Connections. Here, you want to make sure which apps installed on your device Facebook communicates with. Unless you have a specific reason that you already know about, you should not have anything connected. Connected apps share what you do on that app with Meta.
- Now go back to Your Information and Permissions, and select
- External Accounts work just like app connections. You want to check if any accounts that wouldn’t directly be Meta accounts are listed here. Any account that is listed here is sharing what you do on that account with Meta. Unless you have a specific reason to have something connected here, and you know, then remove anything you have listed here.
Now it’s time to go back to the Account Center page and then select Ad Preferences. This section is kind of funny and confusing in the way it’s laid out. I would suggest starting by scrolling a little on the right side and starting at Ads you saved, which is funny because I DON’T SAVE ads, but ok Meta says I DID.
- Click on See all on the right side of Ads you saved. A list of ads that you supposedly saved will show. Click on any ad you don’t like, and when it opens, click on Hide Ads at the bottom of the box. I will warn you that patience will be needed if you really want to clear this list because you have to do this 1 ad at a time.
- Once you’re done with Ads You Saved, go back to Ad Preferences -> and then scroll down and select See all next to ad topics. It’s the same idea here, except for each topic you will get a prompt if you have No preference or See less. If you don’t want to see a topic, select See less.
Now scroll back up to the Ad Preferences section, and select See all on the right side.
- You will get a list of all the ads shown to you on Facebook. You can now select each one (at least the ones you don’t like), and when they open at the bottom of the box, you can select Hide Ads.
And lastly …
- When you are in Ad Preferences -> click on Manage Info at the top, and then scroll down to where it says Other Settings -> Social Interactions
- In the Social Interactions setting -> select your profile at the bottom of the box and then select Only Me
If you leave this setting set to friends, when they see ads, they will also see that you liked or clicked on an ad. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need my friends/family seeing that I clicked on an ad for travel, life insurance, or anything else.
For Instagram
The first couple of steps change
- Open Instagram on the web
- Tap the 3 lines (the hamburger icon) on the lower left side; in the window that opens, click on Settings.
- Now, just like Facebook, click on Account Center on the top left side.
From this point, it’s the same settings as listed for Facebook above.
Final Thoughts
It’s bad enough that Meta changes settings, or turns on settings, without telling me. I also don’t want Meta making a profit from me, and I want to limit the data I share as much as possible. We live in a world of social media, so it’s impossible to say I’m not going to use it. However, I will say that I control what I share, not the other way around.
