Facebook will start telling users which websites track them across the web
Facebook will start telling users which websites track
them across the web
Facebook will start telling users which websites track
them across the web — and offer them the option to delete the personal data.
The social media site collects information from Facebook
users and non-Facebook users from websites that send it user information,
including through Facebook "pixels."
The feature, called "Clear History," will roll
out in upcoming months
Sara Salinas |
@saracsalinas May 1, 2018 CNBC.com
Facebook said Tuesday it will start telling users which
websites track them across the web — and offer them the option to delete the
personal data from their accounts.
The social media site collects information on Facebook
users and non-Facebook users from third party websites that use Facebook's
services, like the "Like" plug-in or Facebook "pixels,"
which are pieces of code that track what people do off of Facebook.
The feature, called "Clear History" — which
will roll out in upcoming months — will essentially let users see and clear the
information Facebook knows about their browsing history.
"To be clear, when you clear your cookies in your
browser, it can make parts of your experience worse. You may have to sign back
in to every website, and you may have to reconfigure things. The same will be
true here. Your Facebook won't be as good while it relearns your
preferences," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post to his personal account.
"But after going through our systems, this is an
example of the kind of control we think you should have," he said.
"It's something privacy advocates have been asking for — and we will work
with them to make sure we get it right."
The new feature is another effort to give users more
control over their data in response to widespread data mishandling by research
firm Cambridge Analytica.
The firm was accused in recent months of improperly
accessing the personal user data of as many as 87 million Facebook users. The
allegations have set off a firestorm of governmental probes and privacy
concerns — causing Facebook to publicly address and, in some cases, tweak its
privacy policies.
Facebook will still collect and store aggregate data from
third party websites, the company said, but it will disassociate the
information from user profiles.
"You'll even be able to turn off having this
information stored with your account," Zuckerberg said.
Here's the full statement from Facebook's Erin Egan,
chief privacy officer:
The past several weeks have made clear that people want
more information about how Facebook works and the controls they have over their
information. And today at F8 we're sharing some of the first steps we're taking
to better protect people's privacy.
We're starting with a feature that addresses feedback
we've heard consistently from people who use Facebook, privacy advocates and
regulators: everyone should have more information and control over the data
Facebook receives from other websites and apps that use our services.
Today, we're announcing plans to build Clear History.
This feature will enable you to see the websites and apps that send us
information when you use them, delete this information from your account, and
turn off our ability to store it associated with your account going forward.
Apps and websites that use features such as the Like button or Facebook
Analytics send us information to make their content and ads better. We also use
this information to make your experience on Facebook better.
If you clear your history or use the new setting, we'll
remove identifying information so a history of the websites and apps you've
used won't be associated with your account. We'll still provide apps and
websites with aggregated analytics – for example, we can build reports when
we're sent this information so we can tell developer if their apps are more
popular with men or women in a certain age group. We can do this without
storing the information in a way that's associated with your account, and as
always, we don't tell advertisers who you are.
It will take a few months to build Clear History. We'll
work with privacy advocates, academics, policymakers and regulators to get
their input on our approach, including how we plan to remove identifying
information and the rare cases where we need information for security purposes.
We've already started a series of roundtables in cities around the world, and
heard specific demands for controls like these at a session we held at our
headquarters two weeks ago. We're looking forward to doing more.
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