Users can opt out, but Linked History is turned on by default and the data is used for targeted advertising. As lawmakers push for tech regulations and Apple and Google tighten privacy restrictions, Meta is looking for new ways to maintain its data collection.
The company said Linked History is a useful tool for consumers, with a user’s browsing activity stored in one place, not another way to track behavior. Facebook has provided information in a pop-up window encouraging users to agree to the new tracking method. The company said that by allowing Linked History, it can use the information to improve advertising on Meta’s technologies.
Users are also promised that Link History will be cleared within 90 days if they disable this setting. According to the help page, Link History will be rolled out globally in the near future.
Linked History Is Facebook's New Way to Keep Tracking Users
Meta has long tracked the links users click, and this is the first time users have had visibility or control over its tracking tools. So Meta is essentially asking users to grant permission to a tracking category it has used for more than a decade.
When you click a link in the Facebook or Instagram app, the website loads in a special browser built into the app, not the default browser on your phone. In 2022, privacy researcher Felix Krause discovered that Meta inserts special “keylogging” JavaScript into websites users visit, allowing the company to monitor everything they type and click on, including passwords. Other apps like TikTok do the same thing.
Linked History also creates a new mode for setting privacy settings, which are not available if users access Facebook without using the Meta app. In fact, users cannot view the Linked History page if they are using Facebook on a computer browser.
To participate in Meta's advertising network, millions of companies have added a tracking tool called the Meta Pixel to their websites. This sends Meta detailed information about users' activity even if they don't use any Meta products, even if they don't have a Facebook or Instagram account. A 2022 survey by Markup found that at least 30% of popular websites use the Meta Pixel.
Facebook and Instagram users have some control over some of their data usage through a setting called Off-Facebook Activity, as well as a confusingly named Clear History tool that doesn’t actually delete anything. That means Facebook now has two completely separate places to store details about the websites users visit, along with settings to control that data that are hard to find and easy to misinterpret.
The Link History tool shows that Meta is going in the exact opposite direction from other companies. Apple introduced a strong privacy control for the iPhone called App Tracking Transparency in 2020, a serious blow to Meta’s data business.
Google is now removing cookies from its Chrome browser, a trial phase that will disable cookies for about 30 million users. In the European Union, regulators have enacted laws to prevent Meta from forcing users to consent to data collection.
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