Facebook Privacy: Users Will Be Able To Wipe Site History, Hampering Targeted Ad Sales

As privacy continues to be a hot button issue for the social networking site, Facebook will implement a new option that allows users to wipe their app and website histories from their accounts. If they decide to do so, the social media giant will be unable to use that data for targeted ads.

Facebook provided an explanation of the process in a recent blog post. Previously, if users visited a given site, such as an online store, it could share data with Facebook for the purpose of showing ads on the social network. Now, if users clear their off-site data, Facebook will no longer be able to see this data.

“We won’t know which websites you visited or what you did there, and we won’t use any of the data you disconnect to target ads to you on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger,” the post said. “We expect this could have some impact on our business, but we believe giving people control over their data is more important.”

According to CNBC, this option will likely help the company ease the pressure of U.S. regulators attempting to crack down on its data-collection practices. With this option, the company can have the appearance of allowing privacy, while still being able to sell ads for users who don’t know about or don’t bother to use the option.

“The impact of the ‘Off-Facebook Activity’ tool on Facebook’s ad business depends on consumer adoption,” eMarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said. “It takes a proactive step for consumers to go into their Facebook settings and turn on the feature.”

This feature is being slowly rolled out in Ireland, South Korea and Spain, and will be brought to the rest of the world in the coming months.