Instagram-Facebook: Online shopping, searching for a product, or installing a new app are all part of your digital habits. But many users don't know that such activity isn't limited to just that website or app. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also obtains user-related data from external platforms. The company says this helps in displaying better content and advertisements, but it naturally raises privacy concerns. The good news is that Meta gives users full control and the option to see this information.

What is Off-Meta Activity?

Meta tracks information from external websites and apps through a specific feature called "Your activity off Meta technologies." This includes data shared when you visit a website, open an app, search for something, or make online purchases.

For example, let's say you looked at shoes on an e-commerce site. That website might share your activity with Meta, and soon after, you might start seeing shoe advertisements on Instagram or Facebook. According to Meta, this data is used for advertising analysis, personalization, and improving the user experience.

How to see which websites are sharing your data?

This information is available in both Facebook and Instagram within the Meta Accounts Center. On Facebook, tap on your profile icon, then go to Settings & Privacy and open Settings. From there, go to Accounts Center, then select Your information and permissions, and tap on Your activity off Meta technologies.

The process is almost the same on Instagram. Tap on your profile icon, open the menu, go to Settings, and then go to Accounts Center and open the same Off-Meta Activity section. Here you will see a list of websites and apps that have recently shared data.

How to remove or disconnect tracked activity? In this section, you can disconnect a specific website or business so that it can no longer share your information. You can also remove multiple sources at once.

If you want to clear all your data, the "Clear activity" option is available. This removes all the information collected so far from your account, although some data may still be used in an anonymous form.

How to prevent future data tracking?

Meta also offers an option to completely disable future Off-Meta activity. Once enabled, external websites and apps will no longer automatically share your new data with Facebook or Instagram. This may result in slightly less relevant ads, but it gives you more control over your privacy.