Facebook’s ad targeting and tracking capabilities are a big part of its business model. When you allow tracking on Facebook, it gives Facebook permission to monitor your activity across apps and websites for advertising purposes. Here’s an in-depth look at what exactly allowing tracking in Facebook does.
How Facebook Tracks You
Facebook builds detailed profiles of its users by collecting data from multiple sources, including:
- Information you actively provide: Your profile info, posts, likes, comments, etc.
- Actions you take on Facebook: Pages/ads you click, groups you join, events you view, etc.
- Activity on other websites/apps: Many sites use Facebook services like ads or analytics tools which feed data back to Facebook.
- Your device(s): Data like device type, operating system, IP address, location, etc.
When you allow tracking, you give Facebook consent to connect all this data to build a comprehensive profile of your interests, behaviors, and habits. Facebook stores this profile and uses it to serve you targeted ads.
How Facebook Uses Your Data for Ad Targeting
Facebook leverages your profile data to show you highly-tailored ads across Facebook’s platforms including Instagram and Messenger. Advertisers can reach very specific audiences based on info like:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Interests and hobbies
- Pages or accounts you’ve interacted with
- Purchase history and browsing behavior
For example, if you recently looked at running shoes on an ecommerce site, you may soon start seeing ads for running shoes on Facebook. Or if you RSVP’d to a local concert event, you might get ads for other events happening nearby.
How Facebook Shares Your Data with Partners
Facebook also leverages your data for ad targeting beyond just Facebook platforms. It provides aggregated analytics to marketing partners, and also shares select personal data with other third parties. Ways your data may be shared include:
- Facebook Pixel: Many sites use this tool to track visitor activity and remarket to them on Facebook.
- Partner Categories: Facebook categorizes users based on interests/habits then shares these categories with advertisers to target ads.
- Mobile App Data: If you log into apps using Facebook, data may be shared back to Facebook.
- Vendors/Service Providers: Facebook shares some personal data with vendors, research partners, etc.
Facebook’s Data Policy provides more details on how they share information with partners to show relevant ads both on and off Facebook platforms.
How Turning Off Tracking Impacts Your Experience
If you turn off personalized ads or disable tracking entirely, here’s how your Facebook experience will change:
- You’ll still see ads, but they’ll be more generic instead of tailored to your interests.
- Facebook’s analytics tools won’t gather activity data from other sites/apps to refine your ad profile.
- Features relying on ads or analytics may not function properly, like Facebook Pixel conversion tracking.
- Facebook Login will be limited on apps/sites if you opt out of off-Facebook activity tracking.
- You may still see some personalized content based on the basic demographic and profile data you provide.
So in summary, turning off tracking limits Facebook’s ability to refine your ad profile with detailed data from external sources. You’ll still see ads, just less relevant ones. And some Facebook-connected services on third-party sites may not work properly.
How to Control Ad Tracking on Facebook
You have several options to limit Facebook’s ad tracking and data collection:
Turn Off Personalized Ads
This prevents ads being tailored based on your Facebook activity and data. Go to Settings & Privacy > Ads > Ad Settings. Deselect “Personalized Advertising”.
Disable Future Off-Facebook Activity Tracking
This stops Facebook from gathering your activity data on other sites/apps. Go to Settings & Privacy > Your Facebook Information > Off-Facebook Activity. Toggle future tracking off.
Clear Past Off-Facebook Activity Data
This erases the off-Facebook activity data Facebook has already collected. Go to the same Off-Facebook Activity settings and click “Clear History”.
Turn Off Location Services
This prevents Facebook accessing your device’s location. Go to Settings & Privacy > Location Services. Toggle location off.
Restrict Ad Topics
Choose topics you don’t want used to target ads to you. Go to Settings & Privacy > Ads > Ad Settings > Hide Ad Topics.
Delete Specific Interests
Manually remove interests Facebook has inferred about you. Go to Settings & Privacy > Ads > Ad Settings > Your Information > Your Interests. Click the X icon next to each interest to delete it.
The Tradeoff Between Personalization and Privacy
There are benefits to personalized ads and content. You see things more relevant to your preferences, and companies have an easier time marketing products you may actually want. But the tradeoff is reduced privacy as more of your data is collected and shared.
It’s up to each individual to decide what balance they’re comfortable with. You can limit Facebook tracking in different ways depending on how much convenience or privacy you want. But the only way to completely prevent Facebook from collecting and monetizing your data for ads is to delete your Facebook account entirely.
Conclusion
Allowing tracking gives Facebook extensive insights into your interests, habits, and behaviors through data collected across the web and apps. They leverage this to serve hyper-targeted ads. Turning off tracking limits data sharing and personalization, but you still see generic ads. Balancing useful personalization with privacy concerns is something each Facebook user has to evaluate for themselves.