Meet 'Link History,' Facebook's New Way To Track the Websites You Visit

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Facebook recently rolled out a new 'Link History' setting that creates a special repository of all the links you click on in the Facebook mobile app. Users can opt-out, but Link History is turned on by default, and the data is used for targeted ads. The company pitches Link History as a useful tool for consumers 'with your browsing activity saved in one place,' rather than another way to keep tabs on your behavior. With the new setting you'll 'never lose a link again,' Facebook says in a pop-up encouraging users to consent to the new tracking method. The company goes on to mention that 'When you allow link history, we may use your information to improve your ads across Meta technologies.'

Facebook promises to delete the Link History it's created for you within 90 days if you turn the setting off. According to a Facebook help page, Link History isn't available everywhere. The company says it's rolling out globally 'over time.' This is a privacy improvement in some ways, but the setting raises more questions than it answers. Meta has always kept track of the links you click on, and this is the first time users have had any visibility or control over this corner of the company's internet spying apparatus. In other words, Meta is just asking users for permission for a category of tracking that it's been using for over a decade. Beyond that, there are a number of ways this setting might give users an illusion of privacy that Meta isn't offering. 'The Link History doesn't mention anything about the invasive ways Facebook monitors what you're doing once you visit a webpage,' notes Gizmodo's Thomas Germain. 'It seems the setting only affects Meta's record of the fact that you clicked a link in the first place. Furthermore, Meta links everything you do on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and its other products. Unlike several of Facebook's other privacy settings, Link History doesn't say that it affects any of Meta's other apps, leaving you with the data harvesting status quo on other parts of Mark Zuckerberg's empire.'

'Link History also creates a confusing new regime that establishes privacy settings that don't apply if you access Facebook outside of the Facebook app. If you log in to Facebook on a computer or a mobile browser instead, Link History doesn't protect you. In fact, you can't see the Link History page at all if you're looking at Facebook on your laptop.'

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