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Meta Confirms That Facebook’s Link History Option Is Coming to All Users

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Facebook has introduced a new “Link History” setting that creates a repository of all links users click on in the Facebook mobile app. Users can opt-out if they are proactive, but the company is pushing Link History on users and using the data for targeted ads. The company promises to delete the Link History created for you within 90 days if you turn the setting off.

So, what are the details about Facebook’s Link history? Just keep reading this article, Mega Digital will show you all the information!

What is the Facebook’s Link History?

When Link History is enabled, Facebook generates a repository that contains information about every link a user opens within the Facebook mobile app.

Keeping a record of clicked links, according to Facebook, helps users to readily discover links they previously viewed but may have forgotten about. According to the firm, Link History makes it simple to revisit information without having to browse back through your feed forever.

According to privacy experts, this expands Facebook’s capacity to track user activity and online surfing history. Although Facebook has always monitored links clicked by users, this is the first time it has made this data collecting visible or configurable.

Rather than presenting Link History as an opt-in privacy measure, Facebook has made tracking available to all users by default. While the information gathered will be used to better ad targeting, Facebook is marketing Link History as a useful new “feature” for users.

How it works

Link History is a feature in the Facebook mobile browser that maintains track of the websites you’ve visited in the previous 30 days. If enabled, it saves URLs you’ve clicked on Facebook’s Mobile Browser for this period. It’s worth noting that URLs viewed in Messenger chats aren’t saved in Link History.

Illusion of Privacy Control

The addition of Link History as a user tool creates the perception of privacy restrictions that may not be particularly useful in practice.

Only links clicked within the Facebook app are affected by this option. Link History is not enabled while browsing through Facebook on other platforms or devices.

Furthermore, Link History only impacts records of which links were first clicked. It does not restrict Facebook’s ability to track user behavior after a link is accessed in the in-app browser. According to research, when users click on external links, Facebook injects tracking scripts, allowing monitoring even on third-party sites.

Separate from Other Tracking Methods

According to Facebook, Link History data will be destroyed after 90 days if users opt out of monitoring or disable the feature. However, this is only one component of Facebook’s data collection activities. Link History isn’t available everywhere, according to a Facebook support website. According to the firm, it will be implemented internationally “over time.”

The corporation continues to monitor user activity across its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others. Facebook also has a large ad network, which allows partner websites to exchange user data with Facebook via tracking techniques such as the Meta Pixel.

Facebook link history features for all visit your website

Growing Pushback on Invasive Practices

The launch of Link History comes as other internet companies succumb to mounting public and regulatory pressure to strengthen privacy safeguards. Apple has restricted app monitoring on iOS devices, while Google aims to phase out tracking cookies in Chrome.

Lawmakers have taken note, too, with new legislation such as the EU’s GDPR bill creating rigorous standards for opt-in consent for data collecting. Facebook’s attempt to make tracking appear to be a user feature appears to be aimed to allow for maximum data gathering while theoretically adhering to stricter privacy rules.

More Confusion than Transparency

Link History complicates Facebook’s massive tracking infrastructure rather than offering genuine transparency and control. Settings are dispersed across platforms, creating confusion between Link History, Off-Facebook Activity restrictions, and other choices.

For users who respect their privacy, the solution remains to limit their usage of Facebook’s products, opting for alternatives wherever feasible. Those who are dedicated to Facebook should investigate every tracking setting to opt out by default, rather than assuming privacy is enabled.

How to turn Link History off

To turn off this feature, follow these steps:

Select any link within the Facebook app to launch Facebook’s Mobile Browser.
Click on the three dots in the bottom right corner, then select Browser settings.
To enable link history, toggle the switch next to “Allow Link History”, and confirm by tapping “Allow”.
To disable link history, toggle the switch next to “Allow Link History”, and confirm by tapping “Don’t Allow”.

Step by step for turning off facebook link history

This privacy improvement 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. It also raises concerns about how far Link History protections go. Facebook may even create other records of the links you click on that aren’t called “Link History,” which would fall in line with similar gray areas around privacy settings in the past.

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. Link History doesn’t protect you if you log in to Facebook on a computer or mobile browser instead. Additionally, Meta tracks things you’re doing on other parts of the internet in a similar but unrelated way.

Facebook and Instagram users have a small amount of control over some of the ways that data is used through a setting called “Off-Facebook Activity” and a confusingly named “Clear History” tool that doesn’t actually “clear” anything. This means Facebook now has two separate places where it stores details about the websites you visit along with settings to control data that are hard to find and easy to misinterpret.