Facebook will allow users around the world to see, and control their data that third parties have shared with the platform, it said in a blog post on January 28. Called the “Off Facebook activity,” it is the information that businesses and organisations share with Facebook on the basis of users’ interactions with those sites and apps. Users can see a copy of that information and also clear it from their accounts, using the “clear history tool”. Facebook in turn, uses users' off-Facebook activity to run targeted ads at them. Also, there is a catch to the new tool: it doesn’t really delete users’ data from Facebook or other third-parties, but only severs the connection between the two — meaning that Facebook will continue receiving users’ data from other platforms that use its business tools, but will not link that data to a user’s Facebook profile. Facebook had announced the clear history tool at its F8 conference in 2018, following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and it had rolled out in 3 countries including Ireland, Spain and South Korea in 2019. How to access the new feature: We tried looking for the feature, and quickly realised that it isn’t the most accessible of options, since it is tucked away under the “your Facebook information,” under the settings menu. When we clicked on it, Facebook showed up a little explainer on what off-Facebook activity is, and how it received that information in the first place. On the same page, there are options…
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