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Privacy Facebook Technology

Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Tool To Manage How You're Tracked Across the Web (cnet.com) 49

Posted by msmash from the about-time dept.
Facebook has been determined to give people privacy controls while they're on the social network, but on Tuesday, it rolled out a long-promised tool that hopes to give people control from the social network. From a report: In a blog post on Data Privacy Day, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the "Off-Facebook Activity" tool would finally be launched globally, a tool that allows people to manage how Facebook tracks them across the internet. Zuckerberg had promised this feature since May 2018, which at the time he called a "Clear History" button. While it had slow roll-outs around the world, starting last August, it should be available now to the 2.4 billion people who use Facebook every month, Zuckerberg said. In the blog post, he explained the delay was because "we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible." "Other businesses send us information about your activity on their sites and we use that information to show you ads that are relevant to you," Zuckerberg said in the post. "Now you can see a summary of that information and clear it from your account if you want to."
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Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Tool To Manage How You're Tracked Across the Web More

Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Tool To Manage How You're Tracked Across the Web

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  • Tell us what not to track and we won't track it, we pinky swear.

    • Re:tell us what not to track (Score:4, Funny)

      by Mister Transistor ( 259842 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @02:58PM (#59665434) Journal

      Yeah, nothing to see here! (waves hands)

      This isn't the tracking you're looking for.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by shanen ( 462549 )

        I think I'd give you [Mister Transistor] the funny mod if I ever had a mod point to give.

        However for an insight point I'd like to see a solution. Pretending that the personal data has been erased is NOT a real solution. I have one to suggest, but I would bet any amount of data that Facebook will never implement it.

        Let me take my personal data away from you. Let me put my data where I want to store it. That includes a system that is competing with Facebook by offering me better services on a less manipulativ

    • We already do for ages. Look at the DNT HTTP header and finally start abiding it.

  • Hope it has this simple option... (Score:3)

    by bogaboga ( 793279 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @02:30PM (#59665304)

    ...Off-Facebook Activity" tool would finally be launched globally, a tool that allows people to manage how Facebook tracks them across the internet...

    [bold mine]

    Tracking: Never - Under any circumstances.

  • Everything else is just a sham.

    • That's a sham too. Nuking your FB account doesn't delete your profile data, it just removes your own access to it.

  • Interesting (Score:5, Insightful)

    by geek ( 5680 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @02:32PM (#59665316)

    I work in Info Sec and Facebook is often a hot topic. I killed my Facebook account about 6 years ago out of disgust. Then I started reading about how Facebook builds profiles on your whether you have an account or not. After mulling this over for years I made a new account. Lo and behold without posting a single thing or adding a single friend, Facebook was already recommending to me people from my old friends list as well as relatives. They even paired me up with the guy that sold me my truck 3 years ago who I hadn't even met until 3 years after I killed my account.

    It occurred to me that not having an account was less secure and less private than having one at that point because at least if I have an account I can manage some of these settings and have some insight into what they are collecting. Without an account I am blind and Facebook can do whatever they like.

    Such a strange paradox to be stuck in. It's hostage like in a lot of ways.

    • Not ever having an account might offer some security but as others have pointed out Facebook can roll their own. I'm in a similar situation in that I created a FB account years ago but have never used it. Unlike you I don't plan to reactivate it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      No. When you log in, you obviously give them much more info about you (where you are, the mac address of your device, your entire list of email and phone contacts, your text messages, etc). Having an account is much less secure and much less "private" than not having one at all.

      • What are you talking about? How do they get the MAC address of your device if it's not routed? You don't have to give them any e-mail or phone contacts, their text messages, or any of that.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DogDude ( 805747 )
          A MAC address has nothing to do with routing. It's your device unique identifier.

          • Re:Interesting (Score:4, Informative)

            by MobyDisk ( 75490 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @04:52PM (#59665792) Homepage

            A MAC address has nothing to do with routing. It's your device unique identifier.

            There's some misunderstandings going on here.

            The MAC address is a 48-bit number assigned to an ethernet device. They are not unique, although they must be unique within a subnet. They can and do change. The MAC address is used for local ethernet communications. It is not normally sent over the internet since it is useless from a TCP/IP standpoint.

            If you install an application on your device, and your device has a MAC address (computers often have several), the application can read those MAC addresses and send it somewhere to use as an almost-unique identifier. However, "geek" did not say that he installed the Facebook app. Since he is talking about security, it seems safe to assume he did it from a web browser. In that case, Facebook doers not have the MAC address or most of the other information you mention.

            Really, no one should ever install the Facebook app. Maybe malware researches? Years ago, applications that captured your contacts were called "viruses" or "malware."

            • 'Years ago, applications that captured your contacts were called "viruses" or "malware."'

              They still are. Alas, the overweening majority of smartphone apps are malware. As are both smartphone operating systems.

        • ...How do they get the MAC address of your device if it's not routed? ... --- If you use the Facebook app on your smartphone, I would not be surprised if the app is slurping up the network info and sending it back to the mother ship.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by novakyu ( 636495 )

            Precisely why you should never install Facebook app on your smartphone. The website works fine on the web browser; don't give them any more control than that.

        • How do they get the MAC address of your device if it's not routed?

          SLAAC?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geek ( 5680 )

        No. When you log in, you obviously give them much more info about you (where you are, the mac address of your device, your entire list of email and phone contacts, your text messages, etc). Having an account is much less secure and much less "private" than not having one at all.

        I've given them nothing, not even my real name, no contacts, nothing. Maybe YOU give them these things but I dont even have the app on my phone so, you're wrong.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ludux ( 6308946 )
          Do you have a credit card? Do online banking? Do you have any accounts with any sites online? Have you ever turned on javascript, or allowed cookies? Then they have a profile on you.

    • Do you use NoScript, uBlockOrigin, uMatrix etc.?

  • Wow (Score:2)

    by bobm ( 53783 )

    Ok, I have an account but don't really use it ( I needed it to sign up for getting pics from a skiing event ).

    I just checked and the advertisers that uploaded information (without me being logged in) was staggering.

    Car dealerships, food stores, etc. I'm sure that there must be a kickback going on but if anything the companies sending data to facebook is pretty bad.

    Note that I have facebook blocked where I can but I'm guessing that it's a lot of server side stuff going on.

    I can tell that they don't know w

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )
      Advertisers aren't uploading anything. It comes from your cell phone and your credit cards.
  • Is there a checkmark with a big "NO THANKS"?
  • ... either I do not have access to it yet, or it is well hidden.
    • Yeah, it took me a while to find it. Click the question mark on the top right then click Privacy Shortcuts. Scroll down to the section "Your Facebook Information" then click "View or clear your off-Facebook activity". Under the "What You Can Do" section, click "Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity".

      Here you can "Clear History" or "Manage Future Activity".

  • For "OFF FACEBOOK ACTIVITY"?

    While you are on Facebook we will know the contents of your large intestine.....

    • Ummm, yeah. (FB Whine) We can't track you 24/7 so here's a tool to "help" with that, ya know, filling in the gaps, like. Yeah, that's it! That's the ticket!

      • That also implies having an active FB account so you can use the tool.

        What about those with no FB account who are being tracked?

  • ...managing how they're tracked across the Web.

  • They keep the heuristics and metadata (Score:4, Informative)

    by WillAffleckUW ( 858324 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @04:01PM (#59665624) Homepage Journal

    So it won't actually clear it.

    Remember, delete groups. Wait a day.
    Then, delete people. Wait a day.
    Then, clear details. Wait a day.
    Then, next week, delete your account.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by novakyu ( 636495 )

      Only a day? Spread it out at least over a year---or longer, if you want to ensure the backups will be gone.

  • But their privacy never gets any better because they make money selling your personal info. They'll keep making this announcement every few years, and nothing will ever change.

    • Sure things will change. They will keep making more money, bypass laws with bribes - I'm sorry, I meant lobbying and then put Mark in the white house.

      We think the movie "The Circle [wikipedia.org]" was fiction, but Facebook are using it as a template for the future.

  • Manage Future Activity
    Turn off future activity?Here are some things to know:

    Turning this off will disconnect your future activity. It may take 48 hours until it's fully disconnected from your account.
    We'll still receive activity from the businesses and organizations you visit. It may be used for measurement purposes and to make improvements to our ads systems, but it will be disconnected from your account.
    Your activity history will also be disconnected from your account.

    This will also prevent you from logging into apps and websites with Facebook because your activity will be disconnected from your account.

    You'll still see the same number of ads. Your ad preferences and actions you take on Facebook will be used to show you relevant ads.

    So, for those websites/services that require a Facebook login... Yeah, those won't work any more. Mwahahaha!

  • Screwed either way (Score:3)

    by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @08:43PM (#59666392)

    We keep hearing they track non-members, but from what I understand from the summary, you need to be a facebook member to disable tracking.

    Seems like a chicken-egg, catch 22, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't kind of situation.

  • > we had to rebuild some of our systems to make this possible.
    Translation

    We needed extra resources to have two databases with user data. One for users and one for us.

  • I checked this out and the first thing I found was that my Fitbit app is talking to Facebook.

    I was a little surprised as I have never explicitly linked the two. I don't have the FB app installed on my phone, but I do have Instagram & Whatsapp - my first guess is that the local webview stuff has access to my Chrome cookies (with which I have accessed the FB website).

    I have asked Fitbit support for more information.

    There are 131 apps and websites that apparently have hooked into Facebook. Almost all of th

  • FB buried the he "Off-Facebook Activity" tool. Had to Google to find how to get to the damn thing. low MF'rs.

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