Facebook’s new Link History feature has a privacy catch
Facebook’s new “Link History” feature on its mobile app allows its parent company, Meta Platforms, to see which websites you visit to better target you with personalised ads across its services.
Earlier this week, Meta punted the feature as a useful addition for users to see their browsing activity in one place rather than having to keep tabs on their actions themselves.
Link History provides a summary of all the external browser links you clicked on from within Facebook.
However, Gizmodo cautioned that the pop-up encouraging users to enable Link History includes a line mentioning that Meta might use users’ information to improve its ads.
“When you allow link history, we may use your information to improve your ads across Meta technologies,” Meta states.
Facebook’s pop-up encouraging users to enable Link History.
In addition, the pop-up has the Link History toggle switched to on by default, which could steer less observant users towards accepting something they might not fully understand.
To disable Link History on your Facebook account, click on any browser link in the Facebook app and tap the three-dot menu in the in-app browser.
From here, you must select the “Go to settings” option and disable “Allow link history” in the Browser Settings section.
When prompted, tap the “Don’t allow” button.
Link history is also available on Instagram and can be disabled in a similar way as on Facebook.
While both apps will immediately delete your entire link history, Meta mentions it might take up to 90 days to “complete the deletion process”.
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