Facebook now has its very own Clear History icon and it’s within its new feature – the Off-Facebook Activity. However, if you think that this latest feature will not stop third parties from sending Facebook information about you, then know that it doesn’t work that way. Off-Facebook Activity will only stop Facebook from associating your off-Facebook activity with your Facebook account.

What else Off-Facebook Activity can do?

Off-Facebook Activity is also capable of revealing to you which apps, websites, or any other online services  have been sharing your information with Facebook. I’ve already tried using Off-Facebook Activity on my profile and so far there were 233 apps and websites that have shared my activity to Facebook. Yep, pretty much almost everything that we do online generates data.

Usually, these information about you that are being shared by third parties are being used by Facebook to match businesses with their right audience through ad targeting. Here’s a simple example for you. When you know that you’ve been searching for a new mobile phone recently, online, and you’ve opened up a decent number of websites of different phone brands, don’t be surprised to see an ad about it later on Facebook. Facebook already knows what you’re into and yeah, the website you’ve recently visited gave Facebook that info.

How to Clear History with Off-Facebook Activity?

Want to know how you can Clear History with Off-Facebook Activity on your mobile devices? Here’s an easy to follow step-by-step process for you.

Step 1

Well, yeah. Open your Facebook App on your mobile devices first folks. Then go to “Settings and Privacy.” Tap that and go to “Settings”.

Step 2

Once you’ve already tapped “Settings,” scroll down until you find “Your Facebook Information.” In that section, tap “Off-Facebook Activity.” On the page of your Off-Facebook Activity, you’ll already see the logos of some of the apps and website that have shared your activity with Facebook. 

Step 3

From there, there is a “What You Can Do” list where you can choose which action to take. Tap “Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity.” A page that says “Re-enter Your Password” will show right away. After that, a summary of the apps and websites that have shared your activity with Facebook will show up. You’ll see there how many apps and websites shared your activity and you’ll also get to see and scroll on the name of these apps and websites. 

Step 4

Done scrolling up and down the long list of apps and websites that shared your activity with Facebook? Time for the final step them. On that same page, there’s a “Clear History” icon and all you have to do is to tap it. After so, a page that says “Here are some things to know:” will show up and again, well, after reading those things to know, tap “Clear History” and that does it. Your activity history will then be disconnected from your Facebook account. However, Facebook  will still continue to receive activity from the apps and websites that you will visit in the future.

Benefits of Off-Facebook Activity

Yes, you can now hit that Clear History button whenever you feel like it, but what are the benefits you can actually get from doing so? Here are some of the benefits this new feature can give you:

• Just like what have been mentioned prior, if you clear your off-Facebook activity, your identifying information will then be removed from the data websites and apps have sent to Facebook. It means that Facebook wouldn’t know which websites you have visited and/or whatever you did in those websites. This new tool will let you have more control over your data and, somehow, let you protect your user privacy.
• Aside from that, when you clear your off-Facebook activity, your identifying information that have been disconnected from your account will not be used to target you with ads whether it be on Facebook, Messenger, or Instagram.

That’s the Off-Facebook Activity!

So far, that’s how Facebook’s new feature works. For more information or future updates about this feature, check out Facebook’s Website. What are your thoughts about this latest feature? Let us know in the comment section below.

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