The ads and content appearing on your Facebook feed are no coincidence.
Following an outage that logged several users out of their accounts, many moved over to Twitter where they discovered the platform was stalking their interactions outside of the app, thanks to its “Off-Facebook Activity” feature.
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According to Facebook, the feature tracks “information that businesses and organizations share with us about your interactions with them, such as visiting their apps or websites.”
This information is used by Facebook to introduce its users to new products and services and display relevant ads in an effort to create a more personalized experience.
Users found the feature was monitoring their use across multiple apps and websites, including banking.
KPRC 2′s sister-station KSAT offered the following a breakdown on how to opt-out from the Facebook feature.
How to turn off “Off-Facebook Activity”
- From your phone, go into ‘Settings and Privacy.” Then, select “Settings.”
- From there, scroll down until you see “Your Facebook Information” and select “Off-Facebook Activity.”
- If you want to turn off the setting, tap “More Options” and “Manage Future Activity.” You’ll then be prompted to select “Manage Future Activity” again, and from there, tap the switch to off, next to “Future Off-Facebook Activity.” Then you’re all set!
- If you want to clear the history that’s already been stored, just return to the “Off-Facebook Activity” screen and select “Clear History.”