Kicking things off in the F8 conference, Facebook is answering everyone’s question: What is the platform doing to address concerns of user data? The answer to this appears to be Clear History. This is a new feature the company is currently working on that will give users more control over the information it collects from your browsing history.
Demand from both consumers and politicians alike, Facebook‘s chief privacy officer announced that Clear History will be both a set of controls and a monitoring tool. This feature will allow users to see exactly which websites and apps are using Facebook ads and analytics to send information back to the platform. Users will then be able to choose which website(s) and/or app(s) they want to stop providing access to regarding their personal data.
Mind you, these websites will still be able to collect data on user activity and send it to Facebook, but if a user chooses to opt-out under Clear History’s settings, then Facebook will not link the information back to your personal account. Basically, what this means is that the information is still being collected, but not being identified back to you personally, should you choose to opt-out.
At this time, Facebook hasn’t announced when the feature is set to go live for users, but I’m sure it shouldn’t be longer than a few months.
