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How to stop Facebook from tracking you

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

  • Updated:

Over its life, Facebook has increasingly become interested in your online habits to “better” target the ads directed toward you. While most users may not find this a breach of privacy (considering they agreed to the Terms of Service), it’s one thing to think that Facebook is using the data to improve your Facebook experience.

On the other hand, the data that Facebook has collected is, in itself, worth a lot of money to advertisers. Recently, Facebook partnered with Datalogix to create a database for marketers to direct their ads. For the user, that really means these two companies want more of your information so they can use the data to try to sell you more on Facebook.

While you may not mind receiving targeted ads during the hours you are on Facebook, the amount of data that is collected from your usage should be a concern. The best idea may be to take a look at what you do on Facebook and disable tracking of certain things in your account.

Opt-Out of Datalogix

Go to Datalogix Privacy Page and find the paragraph starting with Choice.

Clicking the last link will open Datalogix’s opt-out form that will remove you from all of the company’s campaigns. This includes the new Facebook tracking, but it takes up to 30 days for the request to be completed.

Apps and Ads

Facebook also tracks you through the apps you install in Facebook. Every single app that you allow Facebook access to is tracked by the social network. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of options other than disabling app access entirely, though there are 3rd party add-ons that can specifically deny tracking access like Do Not Track Plus.

Go to your Privacy settings and click on Ads, Apps, and Websites. You can change your settings for apps and ads.

Facebook tracks you through the apps you use on mobile and browser and admits how much tracking they do. Unfortunately, if you opt-out of apps, it turns off the ability to use them so you won’t be able to share or Like anything on the social network.

You should also edit your ad settings so Facebook doesn’t use you as an ad.

The deal between Facebook and Datalogix looks like it isn’t a big issue, but the amount of data that both companies can mine from users is worth a lot of money to advertisers and marketers. This data is also very important because it can contain the entire Facebook database. As we’ve seen, no network is safe and that data could be stolen and sold.

Besides opting out and modifying your settings, it’s good to add a third party add-on like Do Not Track Plus that can monitor what is tracked on all the sites you visit. Facebook is an advertiser’s paradise, and the social network will continue to try to find ways to monetize themselves by using your data.

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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