{"id":50328,"date":"2024-01-25T06:42:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T11:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=50328"},"modified":"2024-01-25T06:42:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T11:42:19","slug":"how-to-turn-off-facebook-link-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/how-to-turn-off-facebook-link-history\/50328\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should turn off your Facebook link history \u2014 and how"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook recently launched a new feature called link history. This post explains what link history is, why Facebook rolled it out, why you should turn it off, and most importantly \u2014 how.<\/p>\n

What is Facebook link history?<\/h2>\n

Facebook mobile apps come with a built-in browser. Whenever you follow an external link posted on Facebook, it opens in this very browser. Recently the social network decided to start collecting the history of all the links you click, and to use this data to show you targeted ads.<\/p>\n

Why does Facebook need it? Because it\u2019s not just the largest social network in the world, but also one of the most powerful global advertising platforms \u2014 second only to Google in terms of scale and capabilities. Previously, to collect data on user interests and show targeted ads based on it, Facebook used third-party cookies<\/a>. However, support for third-party cookies is being phased out in the world\u2019s most popular browser \u2014 Google Chrome.<\/p>\n

Google has devised its own mechanism for tracking users and targeting ads \u2014 known as Google Ad Topics. To collect data, this technology makes active use of the Google Chrome browser and the Android operating system. Not so long ago, we explained how to opt out of this Google tracking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now Facebook has decided to track users through the browser built into its various mobile app versions. That\u2019s how the link-history feature was born. But it offers no additional benefits to regular users \u2014 despite Facebook trumpeting the convenience of being able to find any link you ever opened at any moment. But if you don\u2019t like the idea of Facebook tracking your every move, it\u2019s best to turn off the feature; thankfully, it\u2019s easy to do.<\/p>\n

How to turn off Facebook link history<\/h2>\n

First, let\u2019s clarify that link history is only available in Facebook mobile apps. The feature is missing when you use the web version of the social network. It\u2019s also neither available in Facebook Lite (if only because this app has no built-in browser), nor (at least for now) in the Messenger app.<\/p>\n

The first time a user opens an external link posted on the social network after Facebook introduced link history, they\u2019re asked for their consent to use the feature.<\/p>\n

\"Request<\/a>

The screen requesting permission to turn on link history is only shown once<\/p><\/div>\n

As you\u2019d probably expect, link history is enabled by default. So most users likely give consent without too much thought \u2014 just to get Facebook off their backs and to show the page they want.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve already opted in to link history and now want to turn it off, there are two easy ways to do so.<\/p>\n

The first way to turn off link history<\/h4>\n