From PC Mag: Facebook is now rolling out its long-awaited clear history tool, which will (somewhat) block the social network from tracking which third-party websites you've been visiting.
The tool, called "Off-Facebook Activity," notifies you about which third-party websites and apps send data to Facebook. If there's anything you don't like, you can cut off the connection for the specific website or disconnect all the activity from your Facebook account.
Facebook collects data from third-party websites and apps for online advertising purposes. Say you visited a shoe website. That shoe website can create a user ID for your computer through an internet cookie, and then send that information to Facebook. The next time you visit the social network, ads for the shoe website —and any other sites you recently visited—might appear in your News Feed.
What makes the practice creepy is how Facebook can technically map out your web browsing history because the company's ad network is used by sites and apps across the internet. In its defense, Facebook says it uses the data to serve you relevant ads. But the social network has been changing its practices following a number of privacy scandals and a $5 billion fine from the FTC over a failure to disclose the personal data it collects from users.
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