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By regularly using an ad blocker, updating your data preferences, and deleting cookies, you can stop Facebook from tracking you. With so many users, the Facebook audience is a perfect environment for tracking online behavior. When your online activity gets captured, Facebook can send you promotions tailored to your browsing habits — especially if you don't use an ad blocker.
If having your online movements followed makes you nervous, you may wonder, “Can I stop Facebook from tracking me?” Fortunately, you can take steps to stop the app from tracking you. Not everyone enjoys having social media gather their information, so we’ll show you how to avoid it with our detailed guide.
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Because Facebook collects data even when you’re logged off, you should be aware of what information is getting tracked. Facebook uses tracking cookies that are stored on your computer or mobile device. These cookies are files that contain logged information about your online activity.
Facebook also collects your data from third parties, such as app developers and advertisers. That means it can use data from other websites you choose to visit.
The data Facebook gathers may include the following:
When you review the list of data Facebook can collect, it can be a little overwhelming. That’s a lot of information to share with a social media app. If sharing all this information makes you uncomfortable, you should know how to turn off Facebook tracking.
Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to do this by adjusting your Facebook app permissions. Here are some tips on how to remain anonymous online.
Facebook’s Privacy Checkup reviews your privacy settings so you can manage your choices and share only the data you want. Follow these steps to go to your Privacy Checkup:
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Your activity log is a list of everything you’ve searched for on Facebook. The platform keeps a record of all these activities, so deleting your activity log helps keep your data more private.
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Facebook ad tracking shows you how your data gets used to send you the ads you might find most interesting. To change your ad preferences:
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Not everyone has this setting in Accounts Center yet. If these steps don't work for you, Meta suggests updating your app or going to accountscenter.facebook.com in your browser.
Can Facebook track activity even when you're not using it? The answer surprises many people, but yes, Facebook can track your behavior on other sites too.
Meta is retiring the setting that used to control this, called Your activity off Meta technologies. The replacement is Activity from other businesses, which decides whether Meta can use that activity to show you ads and other content.
To change it:
One thing worth knowing: turning this off doesn’t stop the data from being sent. Meta says that regardless of your choice, businesses and organizations may still send your activity, and Meta may anonymize it or use it to improve its products. The setting controls whether that activity gets used to target you.
Facebook uses location tracking to send you targeted ads. It also uses it to show you nearby events and to identify your location when you log into the app. If you don’t want Facebook to know your precise location, turn off location tracking.
To turn off location tracking:
You can turn off Facebook’s integration with other apps to give you more control over your information. You may have connected other apps to your Facebook account in the past. This lets you log in to these apps through Facebook but could also allow app tracking.
When you turn off Facebook’s integration with apps, you may lose saved data such as game scores, posts, and other information.
Here’s how to quickly unlink apps from Facebook:
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Ad blockers can do more than just block those pesky pop-ups. They can also block trackers while you're online shopping, browsing social media platforms, and more.
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When you use a secure browser, it encrypts your data. If you don’t want your information tracked, a secure browser will hide your online activity and block tracking. Many users choose more secure browsers such as Tor, Opera, Firefox, and Brave. These browsers focus on privacy and online security.
No matter which browser you choose, learning how to clear cookies will help protect your data. (You should also clear history and cache too.) Cookies save your user data, so clearing them helps protect your privacy.
While Facebook doesn’t directly sell your data to brokers, many data brokers use social media sites to collect personal information. Data removal services scan the web for your info and send you regular reports on data brokers that are sharing your personal details.
Incogni is easy to use and does a thorough job of finding your personal data online. In fact, Incogni outshines its competitors by removing your info from 420+ data brokers and people search sites. It also sends regular reports every three months to help you ensure your private details stay offline.
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The Unlimited plan extends coverage to 2,000+ additional sites with human-assisted custom removals
The easiest way to turn off Facebook tracking is to delete your account. That’s an extreme option and doesn’t leave you room for much fun if you enjoy social media.
Some people decide to delete their Facebook accounts for a short time. If you don’t know how to opt out of Facebook tracking, this is a choice, but with our guide, you shouldn’t have to take such drastic measures.
You may use Facebook every day to catch up with old friends and post about your experiences. Facebook can be a fun app when you know your information is safe and remains private.
The social media platform is upfront about tracking online user behavior. That doesn’t mean you have to leave all your data to chance. With our guide, you can adjust your settings to match your data preferences and use tools like ad blockers and data removal services to protect yourself.
You can read more about social media safety to get all the latest tips and trends for online data security.
Facebook can track your off-Facebook activity, meaning what you do on other websites, in other apps, and even in physical stores. The setting that used to control this, called Your activity off Meta technologies, is being retired. The replacement is called Activity from other businesses:
Keep in mind that turning this off doesn't stop businesses from sending your activity to Meta. It only controls whether Meta can use that activity to target you.
Facebook tracks you to gather information about your online activity. By doing so, Facebook can use this data to send you targeted ads.
Facebook keeps your data for at least 30 days. Some of your data may take 90 days to delete. It is also possible that a portion of your data will get kept after that time in backup storage.
Meta is still moving people over to Meta Accounts, so you may see either Accounts Center or Meta Account settings as the place to manage this. Meta also says not everyone can access these settings in Accounts Center yet. If the steps above don't match what you're seeing, try updating your Facebook app, or go to accountscenter.facebook.com in a browser instead.
They could, depending on how your accounts are set up. Your Activity from other businesses choice applies to every account in the same Accounts Center, so changing it on Facebook also changes it for an Instagram account you've added there. If your accounts aren't in the same Accounts Center, Meta says you may get different experiences across them, and you'll need to adjust each one separately. Ad topic preferences work the same way for linked accounts.
No. Meta says that regardless of your choice, businesses and organizations may still send your activity to Meta, and Meta may anonymize it or use it to improve its products. The setting controls whether Meta uses that activity to show you ads and other content, not whether it collects it. Facebook may also still target you using information you've connected to Meta yourself, or customer lists that businesses share with it.
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