Facebook's Off-Facebook Activity tool won't actually clear the data collected about you from other apps and sites, only its connection to your Facebook account
When we talk about Facebook's myriad foibles and fuckups, we're usually laying the blame on things that happen within the Big Blue App …
GizmodoShoshana Wodinsky
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook has spent this week rolling out its Off-Facebook Activity tool globally, marketing it as a way for users to clear the data other apps and sites pass to the company. Gizmodo's read of the fine print cuts against that framing: the tool severs the link between that data and your account, but the underlying data itself stays with Facebook and the advertisers who supplied it.
That gap fits a longer pattern in the coverage. A reporter previously found Facebook keeps a permanent record of deleted friends and holds contact information from advertisers users never interacted with, and Privacy International later found the Download Your Information tool returns incomplete advertiser lists. The Off-Facebook Activity tool is the newest entry in a line of transparency features that disclose less than their labels imply.
First-order effects
Users who run the tool come away believing their off-site history is erased when Facebook still holds the raw data — only the association with their profile is cut.
Advertisers that uploaded customer lists keep both their own copies and Facebook's retained data; nothing flows back out of the system.
Second-order effects
Each tool that underdelivers raises the credibility cost of the next one: Facebook's transparency dashboards are increasingly read as window dressing rather than control, echoing the earlier critique of its in-app activity dashboard.
Privacy researchers and regulators gain a concrete artifact to test — as Privacy International did with Download Your Information — making independent audits of Facebook's self-service tools more likely.
Third-order effects
If 'clear your data' tools keep meaning 'unlink your data,' the burden of proof shifts to regulators to define deletion itself, pushing toward rules that distinguish disassociation from actual erasure rather than trusting platform-labeled controls.
Sustained gaps between what privacy tools promise and what they do erode user willingness to grant off-site data sharing at all, pressuring the ad-targeting pipeline that depends on it.
The trend: Platform-built privacy tools are converging on connection management rather than true data deletion, leaving the definition of 'deletion' to be fought over between platforms, auditors, and regulators.
Yikes.Just deleted FB's Off-Facebook activity tracker after checking out the plethora of apps I use that share info with it.This story tells you what to do. Facebook will now show you exactly how it stalks you — even when you're not using Facebook https://www.washingtonpost.com/ …
Facebook has just released a tool that lets you turn off some third-party tracking. But changing the new setting requires 9 different clicks, in a corner of the site that most users will never see. Here's how to go turn it off now. (1/6) https://www.eff.org/...
We're happy to see Facebook taking this step toward transparency and user control, and hope other companies follow suit. But the burden shouldn't be on users to manage ever-changing privacy settings. Real change will require stronger data privacy laws. https://www.eff.org/...
Facebook's new “Off-Facebook Activity” tracker will show its users what data it gathers from partnering websites, apps, and stores. The @washingtonpost concludes, “You might be shocked or at least a little embarrassed by what you find in there.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ..…
Transparency is only Step 1. If we don't like what we see, what can we do about it? If the answer is nothing (e.g., because the regulators want to work there in 3 yrs), transparency becomes a synonym for learned helplessness; a snuff film of our lives that we're forced to watch. …
Facebook: We don't assemble “shadow profiles” and users can download their data. Also Facebook: Here's a metric ton of tracking data that hasn't been previously disclosed until this year's #DataPrivacyDay #DataProtectionDay https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
How does Facebook stalk you IRL? Let us count the ways: - FB knows when I open my Ring app to answer the door - FB knows when I buy a cup of coffee at Peet's - FB knows when I click on my Home Depot shopping cart See for yourself: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... #DataPrivacyD…
New @washingtonpost: Celebrate #DataPrivacyDay by terrifying yourself. Peek at out your new “Off-Facebook Acitivy” page to see all the ways Facebook stalks you — even when you're not using Facebook. My results were 🍌🍌: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
To see this, go to Settings>>Your Facebook Information>>Off-Facebook Activity. You can also clear your history and manage future activity. Facebook will now show you exactly how it stalks you — even when you're not using Facebook https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Is Facebook listening to you? Why bother — it's already stalking you. See for yourself all the ways Facebook tracks you even when the app is closed. Even when your phone is off. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... #DataPrivacyDay2020
We're sending reminders to nearly 2 billion people to review their privacy settings on @facebook. Also, now everyone can manage their info off FB using our new OFA tool. More here: https://about.fb.com/... #DataPrivacyDay