Meta Introduces New ‘Link History’ Feature to Collect Data for Targeted Advertising

Meta has been sparking controversy by introducing a mechanism to extract data from users of its services, primarily Facebook and Instagram, for targeted advertising.

“This feature is being introduced globally over time and may not be available in your location,” reads Meta’s description of the feature. “Link history is available on the Facebook app for Android and iPhone.”

Collecting data based on user activity is nothing new; most online services embrace it, some even openly. However, in its latest attempt to monetize user activity on its platforms, Meta introduced link history, a new self-explanatory feature, and categorized it as a user experience improvement perk.

Link History in Facebook and Instagram Mobile Apps

As its name suggests, link history encompasses a list of websites visited on Facebook’s and Instagram’s in-app mobile browsers. The feature feels benign and might come in handy if you frequently visit websites using Facebook and Instagram built-in browsers and need to remember them without much hassle.

However, a note in the feature’s description page explains that Meta may help itself to the information collected by said feature, to “improve your ads across Meta technologies.”

Saved Links Used for Targeted Advertising

In other words, data harvested from websites saved by the link history feature would be used to adjust your profile and match you to ads tailored to your preferences based on your online activity. This goes for both Facebook and Instagram mobile apps, meaning that the feature isn’t available for desktop users.

It’s worth noting that the feature will save links visited from Instagram and Facebook’s in-app browsers and store them for 30 days. According to the company, link history won’t collect websites visited in chats on either Messenger or Instagram.

Link History Disabled by Default

The feature won’t be enabled by default, and users will have to go through a three-step process to turn it on, as well as a confirmation.

Users who try it out and change their minds about it should know that Meta vows to immediately clear link history when they turn off the feature, but it could take up to 90 days to delete the data.

Protect your Online Privacy

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