New Facebook Feature Separates Web Browsing From Social Profiles

To allow users to separate their web browsing history from their personal profiles, Facebook finally finished a new feature. The move, however, could make advertising on the social media platform less valuable to marketers, Bloomberg reported.

The social media platform is debuting “Off-Facebook Activity.” It was called “Clear History” in past times and a feature that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced last year. The tool lets users disconnect their profiles on Facebook from data for web browsing and other information the company takes in from outside apps as well as sites.

Off-Facebook Activity is designed to show people what Facebook has taken in and provide a way to have it removed. Users can find the new feature in settings, which offers them a list of websites and companies that have shared data with the social media platform. Users then can clear all web browsing data or tell the social media platform to stop linking data to their account going forward.

The report notes, however, that Facebook will still collect data about browsing activity and will put it on company servers. But it won’t connect the information to an individual user. It also points out that the feature comes with additional sections and links designed to explain the reasoning behind Facebook having specific data, where it came from and what it is used for.

According to the report, the company said it will have an advertising campaign on Facebook and through print to let people know about the tool.

Last year, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be adding a “Clear History” button that would provide users with essentially the same power to clear their Facebook history that they have to delete their web browser’s history. At the time, it was noted that the tool specifically removes information Facebook has about the interactions of users away from the social media tool.