Facebook pulls information like a black hole pulls in light.
Last month, I was considering trading vehicles and got a quote on my car from Carvana. When I lifted the lid on the settings I’m going to give you, Carvana was already reaping my Facebook information. I never mentioned Carvana on Facebook — or vice versa, for that matter.
It was like opening a trunk and getting pelted with black bats.
Facebook tracks our activity on other websites and apps — even when we’re not on Facebook (like my Carvana story illustrates). If that bothers you, you can stop it in your account settings by clearing previous off-Meta activity and disconnecting future tracking.
Here’s how to do it in six steps:
- Open your Facebook account (be sure you’re logged in) and click on your photo in the upper right-hand corner. (I’m using a browser window. You may have to adjust if you’re trying this in a phone app.)
- Choose Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu. Then Settings.
- Go to Accounts Center.
- Select Your Information and Permissions > Your Activity Off Meta Technologies.
- Choose Clear Previous Activity. (If you want shivers up your back, view the previous activity first — you’ll see what companies are hanging onto your account like leeches.)
- Choose Manage Future Activity > Disconnect Future Activity.
I’m not on other social media much, so I don’t know the process for other platforms. If you do, email me — I’ll consider it for a future newsletter.
Very helpful. Though I rarely go on FB or any other social media, when I do, I see my latest scrolls in the form of ads. Now I can fix that. Kathy, check out the newsletter from getkim.com if you want more tech tips to share. She’s a wealth of info. Also highly monetized, but I’ll take that in exchange for the knowledge. She’s quite witty and loves to slip in puns that make us groan, which I know you will enjoy!