Facebook's 'Clear History' Tool Is Finally Here for Everyone

You can now get a full picture of the websites and apps Facebook has linked to your account.

On Tuesday, the social network finally made its "Off Facebook Activity" tool available worldwide after previously introducing it only to Ireland, South Korea, and Spain. You can find it in the settings panel for both the mobile app and desktop site under "Your Facebook Information."

The tool is basically the company's attempt at a "clear history" button when it comes to Facebook's tracking of users through internet cookies and computer scripts placed on third-party websites and apps. The social network collects this data so it can serve you relevant ads. But the practice also means Facebook has been technically mapping out your internet viewing history, which can come off as quite creepy.

The company's "Off Facebook Activity" can give you a look into how intrusive the tracking can get. When you open up the function, you'll likely see dozens of different websites and apps that've sent information to Facebook after you visited or logged into them.

You can then (somewhat) block the data harvesting. Users can choose to "disconnect" a select website or app from sending their data to Facebook. However, the social network will still continue to collect data; it just won't be tied to your Facebook ID.

The "clear history" button does the same, except across every website and app. If you select this option, the company warns it will log you out from any third-party apps you used to login to Facebook. The number of ads you encounter on Facebook will also remain the same, they just won't be as relevant.

Finally, there's a nuclear option called "turn off future activity," which will force Facebook to never tie any of the data collection to your account. But again, the company will still collect the data "for measurement purposes." You also won't be able to log into third-party websites or apps with Facebook.

"Off-Facebook Activity marks a new level of transparency and control. We've been working on this for a while because we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday in announcing the expanded rollout.

In the coming weeks, Facebook also plans on issuing a pop-up to users worldwide reminding them to review their privacy settings.

:story: PC Magazine